Dec 30, 2013 | gpettit | 931 views
Silver Stick
The Port Stanley atom rep team competed in the Alvinston Silver Stick over the holiday break and showed their resilience to advance to the quarter finals against the power house team from Parkhill.
The road to this game was a bumpy one with an opening game loss to Alvinston that the coaches players and parents would all rather forget. After the sloppy play in the opening game the Sailors rebounded with a strong showing against Delhi in game 2. After two periods of play the Sailors led the Rockets 2-1 on strong performances by Hunter R. in net, Evan R., Jake P., Tyson B., and Nick K. upfront. On D Evan G. and Brady L. worked hard to keep the rockets firepower away from the net.
Unfortunately for the Sailors they ran out of gas and the steady push from the Rockets broke through with two breakaway goals and an empty netter to close out the sailors with a 4-2 loss. After this game the boys could hold their heads high knowing they put in a good effort and worked hard to the end.
Next up for the Sailors was the Dresden Jr. Kings and a continuation of the epic battles these two have had in recent years. In a real back and forth Barn burner Port goals by Tyson B., Ryan H., Hunter G., and Jake P. left the game tied at 5 with only a few minutes remaining when Jake P. broke loose up the left wing and ripped one past the goalie to put Port in the lead for the first time. It would seal the victory as the resilient sailors would not be denied keeping the Kings at bay through the final minutes. Great defensive performances in this game were provided by Steven H. and Sully who worked hard to the very end.
It was now time to face the powerhouse Parkhill Stars. The valiant sailors battled hard for 3 periods against this mighty team and in the end gave them their toughest battle of the tournament so far. Port surrendered 5 goals to a team that had scored 19 in its previous two tournament games. The boys never quit and worked hard throughout the whole tournament. Junior C. Robert S. Evan R. worked hard shift after shift to get the puck out of our zone despite being dwarfed by the Stars defence, the goaltending tandem of Hunter R. and Jackson W. faced a barrage of shots and stood tall in the net despite the constant pressure.
The tournament proved to the sailors that they are on the right track and if they continue to show the effort and resiliency they did in the past two games they will certainly be a team to be reckoned with as they enter the playoff season.