Nov 06, 2017 | rpalser | 1519 views
LJK Green & White Tourney Finalists
The Atom AA White team participated in the LJK Green & White tourney this past weekend featuring some of the best AA teams in Ontario.
We started the tourney off on Friday with a tough 3-2 win vs the Streetsville Tigers who are a top 10 team in Ontario and one of the best teams in the GTHL.
The 2nd game on Friday was against the Peterborough Petes who were undefeated going far back into last season. This game has been circled on our calendars for awhile. We jumped out to an early lead and couldn't hold on to it but proved we could hang with the team that has been ranked #1 in Ontario since the beginning of last year.
We started Saturday morning off with a 7-0 win vs the Windsor Jr Spitfires. It would have been far worse if it weren't for an unreal performance by the Spits tendy. One of the best we've faced this year.
We enjoyed a really nice team brunch together after the morning game and rested up for the evening game against the Scarborough Young Bruins. It was a sloppy game but we got the job done 5-1 although it should have been 10-1. Our 3-1 record qualified us for 4th place and a spot in the 8 team quarter-finals on Sunday.
Our quarter-final match-up vs the Oakville Rangers was highly entertaining. Both teams played fantastic hockey and we pulled off a 4-2 win with a few late 3rd period goals & some heroics from our goaltender Brando.
The semi-finals brought a rematch with our arch rivals the Stratford Warriors. We were down 2-0 going into the 3rd period but we battled back to tie the game 2-2. We went down 3-2 but tied the game again late in the 3rd showing our team's heart and resiliency. The game ended in a tie and we went to a 10 minute 4 on 4. Both teams gave it their all and neither team could seal the deal sending the game into a shootout. Stratford scored on the 1st shooter but we scored on the next two and Easton closed the door for the win. What a game.
In the finals we again faced the powerhouse Petes. We held a 2-0 lead well into the 3rd period when we got into penalty trouble with two 5 on 3's in the final 8 minutes. Peterborough has a deadly powerplay and made us pay tying up the game 2-2 and eventually netting the game winner late in the 3rd.
I'm very proud of our boys. As the Petes coach stated we all know who the best team in the tournament was and proved to everyone we're one of the teams to beat in Ontario. We will use this as motivation to meet their team again in April.
Go White!
Coach Rich