November 19th to 21st, the Mark Bannon Backhoe U11LL's wowed the
packed Seaforth arena, as the team battled hard throughout the weekend, to
capture the title of B Champions in the 2021 Bill Carnochan Memorial
tournament, hosted by the Seaforth Stars.
Friday night the team started the weekend with a victory over the Blyth Brussels Crusaders. The Meteors were eager to get up on the scoreboard early, as the team had several shots on net with attempts from Ethan Schoonderwoerd in the first period, but the Crusaders netminder held them scoreless until late in the game. At the five minute mark of the third, Henry Schoonderwoerd, and Dylan McLeod on Defense, worked hard along the blue line to keep the puck in, as Cole Ulch assisted by Miles Linton netted the first and only goal of the game. Landon Glauser earned his first shut-out of season, by making several huge saves in the team’s first win of the tournament.
Saturday afternoon, the team faced off against the St. Marys Rock, who got the first point of the game in the first minute of play. Mitchell pressing hard through out the first period, saw the St. Marys goaltender fighting to keep the puck out of this net, but with the persistence of Daxton Baker taking a shot and Tyler Mahon scoring on the rebound, the Meteors tied up the game with just a minute left to play in the first. The second period was filled with penalties on both sides of the rink, but Cole Ulch shoveled a loose puck down low for the go-ahead goal, with 16 seconds left to play in the period. The third period found Mahon adding his second goal of the game by sneaking a squeaker under the goalies stick, while Luke Linton went top shelf to score. Not to be outdone, the Rock challenged Meteors goaltender Collin Klumper on a breakaway, but Klumper was ready with a huge kick save, and Daxton went end to end with a five-hole shot, to solidly secure the Meteors second win, with a score of 5-1.
Sunday morning, an exciting third game would determine who would advance to the A finals,as the Meteors would find themselves working extra hard against the Mount Brydges Cougars, who were strong competitors throughout the tournament. All defensive lines were called to action, as both teams were carrying the puck coast to coast in attempt to notch the first point of the game. A penalty for the Meteors at the 8 minute mark of the second, would see goaltender Landon Glauser pull out all the stops as he stood on his head to protect the penalty kill, but a sneaky goal from the face-off deep in the Meteors end, trickled in as the Cougars netted the first point of the game. Cole Ulch worked hard to even up the score, but the Mount Brydges netminder had a huge glove save to rob the Meteors from doing just that. The Cougars would notch one more before the period’s end, and added an early point in the third. Luke Linton secured Mitchell’s lone point with a mere five minutes to go, as the team fell to the Cougars in a well contested, and hard battled 3-1 loss, sending the Meteors to the B Finals later in the day.
The team would meet the Zurich Thunder in what would prove to be a super thrilling final game, for all in attendance. Daxton Baker would add his first goal just minutes into the game, and Zurich would respond with a wristy of their own heading out of the period. The second was filled with action as Carter Murray had a near breakaway, and Spencer Dick was determined to dig the puck out among the traffic along the boards and feed it out to his teammates. A deflection snuck past Klumper and found the Meteors trailing by one. The Thunder kept Klumper busy in net, but Luke Linton found the tying point, from a beautiful pass made by Liam Coyne who earned the assist, with two minutes to go in the second. Then an unassisted power play goal from Linton added the assurance point to the Meteors tally, and the team didn’t look back heading into the third. Not to be outdone, Zurich had to fight through Meteors traffic on the blue line as defensemen Beau Vanderveld and Miles Linton robbed several breakaway attacks, and Jack Lepelaars was an iron fortress as he cleared the puck out of the zone to protect the team’s hard earned lead. On the front lines, Danny Bree was determined to feed the puck out of the corners, and Owen McCarthy kept Zurich’s goaltender on his toes with many shots on net. Klumper had the fans in the stands holding their breath as a loose puck from Zurich teetered precariously just this side of the goal line. Before the game’s end Daxton Baker would add two more points for Mitchell earning himself a hat trick, with the help of Henry Schoonderwoerd, and Luke Linton would add his third, to earn his own hat trick, in the 6-2 final decision.
Congratulations to the U11LL’s for everyone pulling together to earn the title of B Division Champions!
Great weekend of hockey everyone!!