The Royal Canadian Legion Branch U15A Terriers started their season off on the right foot by winning the Bradford Blue and Gold Classic hockey tournament this weekend.
The Terriers started the weekend off with a tough 2-1 loss to the Innisfil Winterhawks. The Terriers had a number of chances but struggled to find the back of the net. Reece Cordeiro scored the lone goal for the Terriers.
The Terriers found themselves in a very physical battle with the Mississippi Thunder Kings in their second game of the tourney. The Terriers didn’t back down but unfortunately ended up on the short side of a 4-3 score. Austin McCrackin, Adam Trumble and Mason Taylor-Wood scored for the Terriers. Assists were added by Parker Orr and Michael Murphy.
After dropping the first two games, the Terriers found themselves needing a big win on Saturday morning to salvage any hopes of making the playoff round.
The Terriers responded to the challenge by dominating the game from start to finish. Ryan Warwick, Trumble, Nathan Ross, Cordeiro and McCrackin scored for the Terriers. Assists were added by Carson Copegog and goaltender Parker Windsor as the Terriers blanked the Castor River Canucks 5-0. Parker Windsor earned the shutout as the Terriers remained in the hunt for a spot in the semi-finals.
The Terriers entered Saturday evening’s contest vs the Clarence Rockland Crush needing a victory to qualify for the semi-finals.
Henry Cox-Kikkajoon opened the scoring early in the first period on a goal assisted by McCrackin. The Crush evened things up early in the second period. McCrackin broke the tie in the dying minutes of the second on goal assisted by Cordeiro and Taylor-Wood.
Ross and Murphy added goals early in the third period to put the Terriers up 4-1. The Terriers played a very disciplined team game and skated their way into the semi-finals with a 4-2 win. Ethan Yateman was solid in goal to earn the victory.
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 34 Terriers faced the top-seeded Innisfil Winterhawks in the semi finals early Sunday afternoon. The Terriers struck early as Caleb Sawyer rifled a point shot past the Innisfil netminder just 30 seconds into the game. Innisfil tied the game a couple of minutes later.
The game remained tied until early in the third period. The Terriers found themselves short-handed when Taylor-Wood blocked a shot and was able to quickly corral the loose and break in alone to beat the Innisfil netminder. Warwick added a pair of goals in the dying minutes of the game to punch the Terriers' ticket into the finals. Mason Bard and Taylor-Wood picked up assists while Windsor earned the victory in net.
The Terriers faced the Brantford 99ers in the tournament final later Sunday afternoon. Cordeiro opened the scoring in the first on a beautifully executed two-on-one with Warwick. Warwick scored unassisted midway through the second period to put the Terriers up 2-0.
The Terriers played strong positionally, and physically, throughout the remainder of the game as they held firm against relentless pressure from the 99ers. Ethan Yateman made a number of key saves to preserve the 2-0 shut-out for the tournament win.
