2015 Wainfleet Tournament Champions
Port Colborne Healthy Cupboard Sailors
Friday Jan. 9, 2015
What a way to start off a tournament in your own back yard. A shutout win over one of the top teams in the Niagara District Local League.
The Healthy Cupboard Sailors came to play on Friday night; they outscored their opponent, Niagara on the Lake #1, by a score of 2 - 0.
The first and second period was full of scoring chances from both teams. Ryan made some stellar saves throughout the game keeping his team in the hunt for the win. We had our chances as well, but we just couldn't get the shots to hit the net. Then in the third period, the boys found a way to hit the mark. Darius managed to score both goals for the team with a couple dynamite shots. His first goal came off a rush where he dished the puck off to a team mate, but the puck was deflected, went off a few legs and found its way back onto Darius' stick. He didn't hesitate for a second and took a wrist shot beating the NOTL goalie up high just under the crossbar. Then just a minute later, Darius scored his second goal of the game when his shot from the point found its way through a screen into the back of the net. Kaleb and Evan assisted on both goals. Every boy on the team helped secure the victory with their hard work to do what they had to do to preserve the win.
Fantastic game by everyone!!!
Saturday Jan. 10, 2015
Wow, what a game!!!
Both teams were held off the score board during the 1st period with Keaton and the Oakville goalie having to make a few really nice saves. The 2nd period started with a bang when Jack and Conner assisted on Kyle's goal from some intense fore-checking that resulted in the marker. A minute and a half later, an Oakville player took a wrist shot that went top shelf with the peanut butter to tie the game. With just 2 minutes left in the 2nd period Oakville stole the lead with another goal to earn the point for the period.
Half way through the 3rd period, Jack scored off a rebound in front of the net to bring the game to a stalemate once again with the only assist going to Conner. Then with just a little more than a minute left in the game, that`s when all the excitement happened. Kaleb was set up by Charlie and Darius to take the lead with 1 minute and 5 seconds left in the game. Then Oakville broke in and scored an equalizer goal with just 22 seconds left in the game. Off the face-off after that goal, we quickly gained control and skated into the Oakville end, Kohl passed the puck to Lukas from the corner, Lukas took a wrist shot that the goalie could not corral, and Erik B, aka (Dangles) slip the puck into the open net to seal the victory.
WOW !!! UNBELIEVABLE !!!
Now the Healthy Cupboard Sailors are assured to play in the Semi-Finals at 3:30 on Sunday afternoon.
Sunday Jan. 11, 2015
Sunday afternoon at the Wainfleet Arena was the site for some action packed hockey. This class act team pictured above had secured the second seed after playing two great games on Friday and Saturday. The fantastic effort these kids put forth earned them the chance to play for a championship that was being sought after by 6 other teams from around Southern Ontario.
Today was the day when this team of young hockey players fulfilled their dreams and aspirations of being a championship team. It all started when they discovered that they would have to play the Wolves of Niagara on the Lake once again. And that they did.
They came out flying applying a great amount of pressure on their opponents right from the first drop of the puck. Persistence paid off because with 35 seconds left in the first frame, Charlie scored his first of two goals with the assist going to Captain Kaleb. Then two and a half minutes into the 2nd period, Kaleb scored a goal with helpers going to Charlie and Darius. Three minutes later Charlie scored his 2nd goal from a scrum in the slot to lift the team to a 3 - 0 lead. The assist on this goal went to Robert and Kaleb. With two and half minutes left in the 2nd, a penalty shot was awarded to the NOTL team. Ryan rose to the occasion stopping the penalty shot with a nice sliding pad save.
A minute and a half into the 3rd stanza, Lukas scored to take a commanding 4 - 0 lead with Kaleb collecting his 4th point of the game. Later in the period the Sailors ran into some more penalty trouble that cost them a couple goals, but they had enough left in the tank to hold on for the big win.
That win over NOTL gave them the chance to face their biggest rival, the other Port Colborne team, for the championship. There were some some shocking surprises that came forth both during and before the game started that sparked the Healthy Cupboard Sailors to play their best game of the year so far.
It didn't start out to well when a Port #2 sniper scored a goal in the first minute of play, but that didn't faze the Healthy Cupboard squad, because 33 seconds later, Charlie lit the lamp with a hard shot from the slot just inside the post to tie the game Helpers went to Robert and Darius. A minute later, Conner scored a goal that surprise the Port #2 goalie with assists going to Jack and Evan. Less than a minute later, the game was tied up again when the puck trickled in off Ryan's blocker glove. A tough break, but the team in red with a ton of class scored the eventual game winner with just over 3 minutes remaining in the 2nd stanza when Dutcher rifled a low shot that lit the lamp once again.
Twenty-nine seconds into the 3rd period, Robert blasted a shot glove side that bulged the twine, and really muffled the chants and cheers from the Port #2 team fans. Charlie got the only helper on this goal, but not long after, Kaleb scored when he took a pass from Robert and buried the biscuit in the back of the net to clinch the victory for the championship.
WOW!!! WHAT A GAME!!!
Just goes to show what you can achieve when you believe.
A GREAT EFFORT FROM EVERY PLAYER ON THE TEAM THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WEEKEND!!!
YOU DESERVED THIS WIN FROM ALL YOUR HARD WORK AND DETERINATION
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!