Oct 24, 2017 | Amanda Wood | 677 views
Thompson Atom AE's go to Semi's in St Marys Tourney
The Mitchell Thompson Atom AE team travelled to St Mary's this past weekend to play in the Rocks Annual AE tournament beginning bright and early Friday morning. Playing a long travelled Collingwood team at sunrise, both teams were awakened on the ice with the cool arena air.
The 1st period of the tournament would prove to be eventful, with Mitchell's Jacob Dietrich flying down the ice to the Blackhawks end lone, and placing the puck in the net effortlessly with just over a minute of game play. The Meteors would enjoy their momentum of the goal scored for only a few minutes however, until the Collingwood Blackhawks would answer back with an assisted goal making its way by our netminder Keegan Meinen ending the period with an even score of 1-1. The second would be full of end to end excitement with multiple scoring chances and great saves, but ending with only 1 goal added for the opponents going in to the 3rd, 1 goal down. During the 3rd, the fans were kept on edge, wondering if the Meteors would be able to pull through a tie as the period drained down,...Jacob Dietrich again unassisted would ease the tension tying the game up midway through the period. Both teams continued to battle the period, but ultimately ended the game with a tie of 2-2. Goal tender Keegan Meinen would receive the Game MVP.
Later that evening, after the Atoms returned from a hard day at school, they would head at 5:45 pm to St Mary's to take on an eager Ilderton Jets team. Starting the scoring off early, the Jets would stun everyone, and catch the Thompsons Atom's off guard and score with just 20 seconds in the 1st period. Firing up both teams, they would skate hard and try repeatedly to score but the goal tenders would continue to stand tall. With just 2 minutes left in the 1st, Bryce Dixon assisted by Payton Wood would make a great play to sneak one by the Jets netminder, making again an even score of 1-1 to close out the period. Continuing in the 2nd battling for the puck, neither team would find the back of the net, with only a penalty to each team during the period to mark on the Game Sheet. With an edgy 3rd period approaching, the Meteors new the importance of this win. Together, late in the period at 3:16 left, Jonah Gibbings and Logan Verberne would travel to the Jets end to assist in a ringer of a goal by Jacob Dietrich to take the lead in the game. With an extreme game left to play in a short time period, the opponents would strategically attempt to remove their goalie to gain the advantage in the Meteors end. Goal Tender Keegan Meinen would stand on his feet, roll over, and jump to make uncountable amounts of saves to keep the Meteors the game, and would succeed bringing in a close win of just 2-1 for the second game of the tournament. MVP of the game would go to Bryce Dixon.
The next day, well slept, the Thompson AE's would again return for a 3rd game of the tournament versus the Huntsville Otters at 2 PM. The Otters would open the scoring early in the 1st, shooting one high in the net taking the lead. Midway through the 2nd period, Mitchell would tie the game up, with a goal from Jacob Dietrich assisted by Ryan Glauser. The 3rd period would begin with a tight 1-1 score, with both teams aiming for the win. This period would be full of events, with 4 penalties between the teams being handed out making it an action filled viewing. Battling hard, both teams would keep the shots going, but in the end, the fan favorite Thompson Atom AE team would take the game in their hands, with an exciting goal scored late in the 3rd by Jonah Gibbings, assisted by Jacob Dietrich giving the Meteors the win of 2-1. MVP mention went to Elijah Bender.
Making their way to the semi-finals, The Atom's made their way back to St Mary's early Sunday morning for a 9 AM start. The team would face off against a tough Ayr team. Mitchell would begin the game strong and dominate the ice in the 1st using the Flames penalty to their advantage, with goals from Logan Verberne unassisted, and Max Hannon assisted by Lucas Mahon. Meinen made key saves in the period allowing the Thomspson AE's to retain their 2-0 lead in the 1st. Battling down hard in the 2nd period, the Flames team came out a blazing with an apparent pep talk, as they opponents manage to skate hard, puck handle and succeeded in slipping the puck by our net 3 times mid to late in the period to take a shy lead of 3-2. With the 3rd period abroad, The Mitchell Atom's new the challenge ahead of them. An action-filled period kept the fan's watching on and waiting with desperation for the goal to keep them in the game, the goal that would come, but not much left to do it in as Jacob Dietrich would make the play assisted by Lucan Mahon, finding the back of the net with 11 seconds remaining in the 3rd. As the 3rd period buzzer went, a 5 minute 4th period of 3 on 3 would begin. Again with both teams battling, neither team would be able to secure a winning goal, with Meinen and the Flame's goalie making imperative saves time after time pushing the game into a shoot out situation. It would take 6 shooters on each team to find the winning goal, but unfortunately not by the Mitchell Thompsons Atoms AE's, falling short of the win 4-3. MVP's for this final game would go to both Jacob Dietrich and Cohen Ahrens.