The U16 BB Stratford Warriors participated in the Doug Jarrett Memorial Tournament hosted by the West London Hawks from February 23rd through to the 25th. The team had a strong start Friday with a 2-1 win against London’s Oakridge Aeros. This was followed by a hard fought battle resulting in a 2-2 tie against the Waterloo Wolves. On Saturday, the team again had a strong start with a 5-0 win against Victoria Village. This was followed by a tough loss to the North London Nationals, with a score of 5-2. At this point, the team thought they might be done. However, there was still a chance.
The team had to wait until late Saturday night to find out if they had enough points to move on. “Let’s make the most of this second chance,” trainer, Steve Davis, shared with the team when it was official that the U16 boys had held onto fourth place after the round robin finish. Adding onto this encouragement, coach Greg St. Clair stated, “Get rested up tonight boys and bring your energy to the rink tomorrow and leave it all on the ice.”
Sunday’s semi final game had the team face off against Sarnia Jr. Sting, who had taken first place so far in this tournament. It was a nail biter of a game with Sarnia taking the lead; however, Stratford’s Henry Flanagan replied to tie it up 1-1. Just minutes later, Sarnia scored again to take back the lead. Following that, the team showed grit and determination and Stratford’s team captain, Andrew Davis, was able to tie the game up again. This was followed by overtime play with 3 on 3 and then another period of overtime with 2 on 2. Stratford’s Liam Benton was assisted by Ethan St. Clair with the winning goal!
The finals had us facing the host of the tournament, the West London Hawks. The game was 0-0 after the first, with London scoring in the second period. Stratford’s Mark Martin scored to tie up the game. Issac Cousineau was in net and had many amazing saves to keep us in the game. And again, the team headed into overtime. In the first period of 3 on 3, Rem Hruden, again assisted by St. Clair scored to clinch the gold for Stratford with a final score of 2-1. This is the first gold medal in a tournament this 2023-2024 season. In the previous tournaments, the team played hard, but had to leave with second place finishes.
The boys showed a great amount of resilience in this tournament and showed themselves and others just what can be done with a second chance. Overall, many players contributed to our scoresheet, which shows that it takes a full team effort to be successful against strong opposition like we faced this weekend. As we head into our final stretch of the season, the boys should be proud of their efforts and continue to do their very best both on and off the ice!
Thank you to West London for a wonderfully organized tournament!
