Oct 22, 2018 | Stacey Eickmeyer | 316 views
Novice Reps Finalists In Simcoe Tourney
The Mitchell squad came up just short of bringing the trophy back to town. Hard work fueled the team as noticeable improvement was clearly seen across the seven game schedule.
The boys started friday off with a tilt against Port Colborne. Carson Lubbers led the offense with four goals in a 8 to 2 win. Dundalk was up next. Ray wolfe netted five goals and Logan Montgomery had two of his own in a 7 to 2 victory.
Saturday morning, the Meteors fell behind early. Ayr jumped out to 2-0 first period lead and it would stay that way until Cam Dietz set up Wolfe to cut the lead halfway through the third. Great goaltending kept Mitchell at bay, but Wolfe put one home with four minutes left on a feed from Montgomery. The game would end in a tie.
The host team was up next and it was the last game of round robin. Mitchell was up 5-1 after two periods. Simcoe came storming back to start the third to make it 5-4. Montgomery scored a huge goal with under two minutes remaining to secure the 6-4 victory. Wolfe had two goals, Cole Templeman and Lubbers had one each. Hard work infront of the net and in the cornrs by Tyler Burtenshaw created many opportunities in the tight checking affair. Assistant coaches, Brad (Fireball) Lubbers and Jeff Brodhagen gave the Meteors an edge with some key line matching and special team combinations.
Mitchell lined up with Ingersoll in the quarter finals. A balanced attack had seven different scorers find the back of the net in an 11-3 win. Max Brodhagen, Sean Gibbings, Owen Jarmuth, Blake Otten, Lubbers, Dietz, and Wolfe all contributed with goals.
Simcoe was up for a rematch in the semi-finals. An entertaining contest came down to Mitchell taking the lead with under two minutes left in the game by a goal from Wolfe with his second of the game assisted by Otten. Mitchell went on to win 4-2. Lubbers and Gibbings also scored.
The finals had Port Stanley and Mitchell set up for a showdown. Port Stanley had easily rolled through round robin and the elimination round with their closest game being a 9-0 win. The exciting game featured many scoring chances from both teams. Port Stanley had two goals in the second and one in the third before Lubbers scored from a pass from Wolfe. Less than two minutes later Wolfe powered one in to cut the lead to one. A late power play goal put Port Stanley ahead for a 4-2 win. Bryson Eickmeyer had to make some big saves to keep Mitchell in the game.
Brad Lubbers said "improved forward positioning was key to our successful weekend."
Head coach Kory Dietz credited his defense core of Lucas DeJong, Jarmuth, Dietz and Otten with shutting down top lines aswell as creating many offensive opportunities.
All in all, a great effort from the boys with strong support from the families involved!