The
weather was great to travel, the venues and game times were on point. The boys played their first game on Friday
March 10th, at noon in Coldwater against the Otonabee Wolves.
We all arrived at the arena pumped to showcase
our talent. Caden Diehl would put
Mitchell on the score board mid-way through the first period, assisted by Jack
Crowley and Max Hannon. The Wolves would
tie it up by the end of the first. The
second period the boys battled for the puck and had some good passing
plays. Diehl would again find the back
of the net with a short-handed goal to get the crowd and the boys fired
up. A sweet tic tac toe pass from Colby
Faust to Hudson Porter to Grady Smith who fired one past the goalie on a power
play goal. Going into the third you
could see the boys felt at ease making strong passes and staying clear of the
penalty box. It was a quick period, but
the Wolves snuck one passed McCann with two minutes left in the period, the
score was 3-2. Everyone was on the edge
of their seats, when the defense broke out of their zone, and Cole Broughton
solidified the win with twenty seconds left in the game. Catalan picked up the assist. There was still plenty of sunlight left in
the day, so the boys went back to the hotel for a nice swim, hot tub, and food. An early night to bed
to get rest for their next few games on Saturday against Mariposa a team from
Barrie at 9:00am and then South Grey Spartans at 3:00 pm.
Saturday morning the U15 team would travel to
Elmvale and play against Barrie. Both
teams were evenly matched. Mariposa
snuck one passed McCann with a minute left in the first period. This would not set the tone for the
boys. They showed perseverance and
determination to fight back and capitalize on a power play goal. Max
Hannon put Mitchell on the scoreboard, assisted by Cole Broughton. The third period was intense with some great
plays back and forth, but unfortunately Barrie would score the game winning
goal at the end of the third period.
The boys needed to refuel, rest, and reset before their next game at
3:00pm against the Spartans.
Again,
evenly matched the boys played with cool heads, and fought hard to win the
puck. The Spartans would score at the
end of the first period, but that did not deflate the energy these boys had
going. Nate Uniac would dance around the
forwards and the defense to rifle one passed their goalie in the second
period. We got a tie game! The Spartans would not go away and ended up
scoring at the end of the second period to have the lead 2 to 1. Mitchell would not give up; they went toe to
toe with every play when Colby Faust was able to make a sweet pass to Caden
Diehl who dangled one passed their goalie.
The game would end in a tie. This
was a great outcome for us putting the team into a semi final game on Sunday at
noon.
A full
evening of team building was ahead for the boys along with a good nights sleep so they would be ready to meet up against The South Grenville Rangers.
Mitchell had their hands full
playing the Rangers. They skate hard and finish their checks. The boys played
and were keeping up with them. The
Meteors did a great job fighting through the rough and tough style that was
being played in the first, only being down one goal after the first. In the second the hard work paid off as
Mitchell equalized on tally from Caden Diehl, set up by Max Hannon. The game was back and forth, and the Rangers
managed two late goals in the second to take a 3-1 lead that they would never
give up. The third was a hard-fought
battle and showed that the boys had a lot of determination and grit. Its not the ending we wanted but the Meteors
can skate off the ice with their heads held high. It was a great team effort. We want to thank all the kids for their
efforts on the ice, and to the coaching staff, for hours of practice, miles on
the road, and time on the bench. Cheers gentlemen.
Hope
everyone has a great off season, see you next year!