The Mitchell Peewee AE boys competed in the International Silver Stick Finals in Niagara Falls over the past few days and had an amazing run playing 5 games before being knocked out in the Semi Finals today.
The boys started bright and early Thursday morning in what they knew would be one of the hardest games of the round robin against the London Bandits. The boys let their nerves get the better of them and never had a chance to play 'their' game and let London walk all over them losing 7-1. The only goal came as an unassisted, short handed, end to end rush from Drew Scherbarth. Greg Reidy was strong in net for Mitchell but just didn't have a lot of help.
After a huge wake up call, the boys headed into game #2 against Arlington Virginia. Although this still was not the Mitchell team we were use to seeing, they did manage to hold their own and scored two nice goals to take the game 2-0. Solomon Koert scored in the first period while Kyle Eisler and Curtis Chaffe earned the assists. The second goal came late in the third when Scherbarth tapped in his second of the tournament with Koert adding the assist.
Friday morning marked the final game in the round robin. It was against the Bloomington Blades from Indiana in St. Catharines. Finally the fans were treated to the team we all love to watch. Great passes, heads up plays, hard skating and great positioning. They came to win! Mitchell began the scoring mid way through the first period when Eisler notched his first of the game. Chaffe and Coulter Rolph earned the assists. Early in the second period the boys scored #2 on a beautiful shot from Wade Monden. Koert got the assist. Just 2 minutes later, Scherbarth rifled a shot in the net increasing the Meteors lead by 3. Brett Poirier and Joey Adam earned the assists. The boys were heading in to the third period with a nice lead. Reidy was called on to make a number of great saves and was solid in net the entire tournament. In the opening minutes of the period, Eisler tapped in his second of the game while Evan MacArthur ('03) and Evan MacArthur ('04) shared the assists. Just a minute later, Josh Eidt notched a nice goal after a smart feed from Koert and the boys were up 5-0. Indiana didn't give up and answered back with a couple quick goals and Mitchell knew they couldn't sit back on a 3 goal lead with 8 minutes left in the game. Rolph scored a goal with 4 minutes left in the game to ensure the 6-2 win.
The round robin play, put Mitchell in the Tier 1 division with all the top AE1 teams. The first game was going to be against the Barrie Colts. This was a team that didn't just win every game in their round robin play, they scored 36 goals in the three games. This was not enough to scare the Meteors. They knew they had a great team, great coaches and the best fans any team could ever ask for ;)
The quarter finals began Friday night in St. Catharines and the boys were ready! Barrie got on the board within the first minute of play but Mitchell kept pushing, kept skating and kept trying. Reidy was absolutely incredible between the pipes. I cannot say enough about the talent of the Meteors goaltender. He was acrobatic, had 'cat like' reflexes, and made impossible saves possible. This team was stronger than Barrie had bargained for and early in the third period, Eisler tapped in the tying goal with Kurtis DeJong and MacArthur ('03) notching the assists. The boys played a great game and held on to the tie until the end of the third period. It looked like the game was going in to over time until both teams cleared the ice and all that remained was a lone puck at centre. This game was heading right into a shoot out! First up was Barrie. They shot and Reidy made a spectacular save. Then Brett Poirier was up to took the shot but the Colts goalie made a good save. Barrie put another ringer on the job but again, Digger turned him away. It was back to Mitchell with Josh Eidt taking centre stage. A beautiful deke and a quick back hand, everyone jumped to their feet but the goalie's skate just kicked out and deflected the puck wide. Again Barrie would get their last shot to get one by Digger. He tried to Deke as well but Reidy followed him the entire way and shut the door! Now the final chance for the Meteors. If they scored, it would be an instant win. With tensions high, who better to be selected than the calmest, coolest kid on the team...Kyle Eisler. Eisler picked up the puck at centre and with no sense of urgency, he glided in on the Colts net minder. A quick deke and a gentle flick of the wrist and the puck hit the back of the net handing Mitchell one of the biggest wins of the season! Barrie fans were in disbelief that the "Little Town of Mitchell" won. Little town with enough determination for a huge city of hockey players! Way to go boys!!! Great Job Digger!!
The Semi Final game was Saturday morning in Port Colborne against the London Nationals. The Mitchell Meteors were just completely spent. They did a great job but on the large ice surface, against a team like London, they just couldn't keep it together and ended up dropping the game 5-1. The only goal came near the end of the second period on an unassisted goal by Josh Eidt. The boys did an amazing job playing teams that were from large cities. It was a great experience from the pin trading, opening ceremonies to the hotel, water park and amazing location. The boys played 5 great games and represented their 'small town' with pride, dignity and respect. Great job boys. We could not be any more proud!!