Oct 02, 2018 | Scott Wain | 1280 views
Stratford Jr. Warriors Early Bird Tournament Finalists
It was great for the team to get out on the ice just before the season at the Stratford Jr. Warriors Early Bird Tournament. We knew we'd have some tough competition and would have to play our best to get ourselves to Sunday. The weekend started on Friday morning against Waterloo Gold.
The Aeros took a little while to get the legs moving against a solid Wolves team. When we finally jumped out to a bit of a lead, Waterloo battled back to get within one. They pressed late looking for the equalizer. We managed to weather the storm to get our first win of the tourney. Oakridge 4 - Waterloo 3
Having that first win under our belts gave the team a little extra confidence heading into the match up against the Grimsby Kings. Right out of the gate our Aeros were relentless in their puck pressure. The consistent and constant pressure proved to be too much for the Kings. Oakridge 9 - Grimsby 0
With a 2 - 0 record after day 1, we could see Championship Sunday on the horizon. A 3rd win would put us in a great spot to earn a birth in the final. The host Jr. Warriors were in pretty much the same boat. The winning team could essentially punch their ticket for a chance to win it all. The team had a great sense of urgency on the ice and put together their finest effort of the weekend. The Warriors goalies came to play and really kept the game close. Final score: Oakridge 4 - Stratford 1
The last game of the round robin would be against a very strong Kitchener Jr. Rangers team who had yet to give up a goal. With both teams sitting with a 3 - 0 record the final was already set regardless of the victor. Although 2 goals put the Aeros down early, the team continued to battle and tied it up 2 - 2. Kitchener answered to regain the lead only to have Oakridge tie it right back up. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the pace and in the 2nd half of the game the Jr. Rangers took charge and ran away with 5 unanswered goals. Kitchener 8 - Oakridge 3.
Championship Sunday! The Aeros were looking for some redemption after the tough loss the day before. The Jr. Rangers were prepared and came out of the gate flying. Constant pressure and great puck movement by Kitchener put Oakridge down 4 - 0 after 1. The 2nd period was a much tighter battle with no scoring until the last minute of the period when the Rangers went up 5 - 0. The Aeros just couldn't recover and the Jr. Rangers were crowned champions. Kitchener 7 - Oakridge 0