Mar 20, 2017 | Marv Leis | 920 views
Great Finish
After a disappointing end to the playoff season ( 1 win & 7 losses all close games ) the Titans had 1 more weekend of meaningful hockey left to play. And boy did they come to play.
The tournament was the Marci Cook Memorial in Simcoe & Delhi. Things didn't start out the greatest on Friday afternoon when Colin took a shot in warmups that broke a piece of equipment so Alex was called on to start without much warning. Simcoe got the scoring started with a goal early in the 2nd but Corson tied it up unassisted shortly after however that appeared to wake Simcoe up as they scored 2 quick goals near the end of the period to take a 3-1 lead. The 3rd period was back and forth and with less than 4 minuets left Corson got his second with the assist going to Mackayla. Simcoe held on however for the 3-2 win.
Next up was a Saturday match against the Blyth/Brussels Crusaders who were also looking for their first win . With Colin's equipment problems taken care of he got the start in net . Corson got the Titans started with an unassisted goal in the first he got his second of the game before the Crusaders would score to end the second period with the Titans up 2-1. Corson wrapped up the hat trick early in the 3rd but the Crusaders scored shortly after setting up another wild finish and fortunately this time the Titans came out on the positive end of a 3-2 score.
The Langton Leafs were the next opponent and the mission was simple win and move on or lose and the season is over. After Colin's impressive win in net in the morning he was given the responsibility to get us to the semi- finals. The Leafs got the first goal of the game but this time it was the Titans who were woke up as they then scored 3 goals in a little over a minuet first Kaleb scored with Jackson Sim getting the assist then Corson unassisted and then Jayden with the assist going to Sam. The Titans didn't let up as they scored another 3 in the 2nd Jayden from Jackson Sim again then Mackayla from Jackson and then Corson unassisted to give the Titans a 6-2 lead going into the 3rd. This time it was Jayden's turn for a hat trick when he scored early in the period with Jackson getting his 4th assist of the game and Nick getting the other helper. From there the Titans took the foot off the pedal and Langton got 2 late goals for a 7-4 victory it was off to the semis and time to go home for some much needed rest.
The opponent for the semi-final were the Port Stanley Sailors who finished 1st in their pool . They might have been first but they weren't prepared for the Titans who came out flying once again Corson got things going and then Mackayla scored with the assist going to Owen making it 2-0 after 1. Corson scored again in the second to give Tavi a 3-0 lead heading to the 3rd .Unfortunately our players don't like to make life easy on their coaches and parents and Port Stanley got 2 quick goals to make it 3-2 and creating a wild finish fortunately Alex and the rest of the Titans with held the storm giving Tavi the 3-2 victory and a trip to the finals. Mackayla was voted as the player of the game for the Titans a well deserved choice.
Win or lose the next game would be the last for this group it's always fun to see a bunch of kids that get together in September some of them meeting for the first time and 6 months later being good friends not that there were not disagreements along the way but nothing that could not be worked out. The final would be against the team from Thornton . This time it was Tavis turn to hang on as Thornton came out flying they got 1 past Alex but that was it in the 1st giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead and hopefully giving the Titans a chance to regroup. And regroup they did this time it was the Titans turn to take over Owen got things started with Eric getting the assist and then Sam gave Tavi the lead with Owen and Jackson getting the assists giving the Titans a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd. The Tigers weren't ready to quit tho and they scored early in the 3rd to tie things up. Just when we were starting to think about a 3 on 3 OT Corson had 1 more rush left in him as he crashed his way thru a bunch of Tigers to give the Titans a 3-2 lead and then in what had to be the first time all year the Titans scored late in a game to allow the parents and coaches a chance to breathe Owen got the goal and Kaleb and Corson assisting Alex stood tall the rest of the way giving the Titans the win and the championship. Alex was named the most valuable goalie and Mackayla once again player of the game.
One thing this tournament showed me is that heart and hard work can overcome other things I'm sure there were other teams there that were more talented than us and I think every team there was definitely bigger than us but our kids refused to give in and they deserve all the credit.
Also even tho not every kid was not mentioned in the scoring they all played a huge part. On defense we had Corson who I;m sure had the opponent worried every time he picked up the puck
Jackson who I'm sure had every player on the ice worried ( both teams) every time he wound up for a shot
Nicole who would have to be the most frustrating player to play against because u just can't get around her & if u do she will likely knock u over
Blake who has improved every game am sure would surprise a lot of people if they knew he was a PW
On forward we had Sam who is likely the quietest captain ever but tries to lead by example
Nick who gives 100% every time he's out there and never complains when he is asked
to miss a shift
Owen thanks for joining us on LL we hope u enjoyed all the hockey u played
Kaleb by far the quietest Titan but give him a job to do & he does it
Eric it's not easy bouncing back and forth between D and forward but u did a great job
Lucas sorry u missed the tourney u were a heart & soul player on the team if things started to get a little rough we could count on u to step in
Jackson u keep improving every year it was great to see u get your first goal but I especially liked the one u scored off your butt
Jacob sorry u had the injuries u had hopefully u can come back next year and continue on
Jayden Iv'e said it since the first time I saw u play the puck follows u around and u know how to bury it now u have also developed a shot and your stickhandling has greatly improved keep up the good work
Mackayla on a team of hard workers u are likely the hardest worker I'm sure u surprised a lot of opponents this year that were a lot bigger than u and in a battle for the puck were left standing there as u skated away with it
Ashlie another PW that didn't look out of place and has improved every game keep up the good work
Evan thanks for your willingness to be part of the team your shot has really improved good luck next year
Goalies Colin I give u a lot of credit for standing in their with some of the monsters that u have to face barrelling in on u and shooting on u Ihope u had fun
Alex great year I keep forgetting u r a 1st year bantam u should have a really good year next year
Quick re cap of the season
finished 9th out of 16 teams of the 8 teams ahead of us only 1 had a rep and an AE team most of them no rep and no Ae team
Won the Ayr tournament
Finalists in the Pelham International Silver Stick
Finished playoffs 1 win 7 losses
6 of those losses by 1 goal did not have our full team for 1 game
WON the Marci Cook Memorial Tournament
Over & Out