The Mitchell Scotiabank Bantam AE team played in the St. Mary’s Boys AE tournament this past weekend, winning the tournament and proving hard work and effort pays off.
The tournament opened on Thursday evening for the boys, playing against the larger St.Mary’s team. Opening the scoring was Carter Prescator, with assists going to Jackson Thorpe and Sam Snyders @ 6:38 of the second. With just 26 seconds remaining in the second, Prescator strikes again with the assist going to Joey Hill.
Mitchell was not done and came out strong again in the third, scoring twice more, both by sniper Josh Edit. The score ended with Mitchell smashing St. Mary’s 4-2.
The boys next game was Saturday morning against the quick and skilled North Erie team, however neither would prove enough with the boys scooping another win over the North Erie team, 3-2. Karsen Eisler started the scoring for Mitchell after receiving the pass from Josh Edit @ 4:11 in the second. Eisler scored again with what could only be compared to a NHL sniper shot after taking the puck from Curtis Chaffe. Mitchell finished the scoring in the third and with one more by Sam Snyders as the North Erie team looked on in bewilderment.
Saturday night’s game would prove to be Mitchell’s first loss. The Pentetang AE team were a much larger team, schooling our boys in the art of how to and how not to hit with two of our boys getting the wind knocked out of them. At the end of the game, the score reflected the damage and the boys suffered their first loss 2-0. Well deserving, the “Player of the game” went to Stevie Daum who was riddled with massive shots and only allowing two to get by him.
Sunday morning the boys started at 9:30, in what had to be the most unusually, spectacular, nail biting game of the tournament. The boys faced off with Huntsville, truly a great team and sportsmen. Mitchell opened the score in the second when Jackson Thorpe rifled one from the point after receiving it from Sam Synders. Our next came at 2:09 of the second with Edit from Prescator. However, the Huntsville team was also putting them in the net at t other end and we found ourselves trailing 3-2 near the end of the third. The coaching staffed pulled our goalie and with just 15 seconds remaining, Prescator somehow in the chaos in front of the Huntsville netminder, finds the back of the net and ties the game at 3.
On to over time. The methodology for OT was as follows, 5 on 5 for a minute, 4 on 4 for a minute, 3 on3 for a minute and so on. The first minute nothing, second minute nothing, third minute nothing, however the forth minute with 2 on 2, Mitchell took a hooking penalty, leaving just Prescator to face two Huntsville opponents. Carter gets control, sends the puck the length of the ice, allowing him to get off and Edit to get on. Edit draws a penalty, taking the advantage of the 2 on 1 away and evening it up to a 1 on 1. Edit wins he draw, Edit circles back gets his own draw, charges the net and buries the puck, giving Mitchell the win and advancing the boys to the finals against Oro.
The final game was set against Oro @3:45. With the stands packed, the Mitchell Bantam AE schooled our northern competitors by winning the tournament by only needing to score in the first period. At 7:11 Edit hammered in a goal with assists coming from Karsen Eisler and Solomon Koert. The game winning goal came at 1:27 of the first, with the same line.
What a great weekend! The boys showed great persistence, courage and effort over the course of the weekend, giving the parents and fans exciting games to watch all weekend. Well done!
Please note the team photo can be found on the gallery tab.