The Stratford
Cooper Standard Bantam B Aces struck gold at the 19th Annual
Woodstock Wildcats Tournament this past weekend.
To make things interesting the Aces started the tournament with a 2 to 0 loss to the Niagara Falls Rapids. Despite outplaying their opponents, the barrage of shots that hit the end boards and the glass above the net did nothing to break the bagel on the Stratford side of score board.
Needing to put together a string of wins to get out of pool play the coaching staff took a bit of an unorthodox approach for the rest of the tournament. The girls responded with a 5 to 2 win against the Caledon Coyotes and a 3 to 1 win against the Chatham Outlaws to finish first in their pool.
The semi final on Sunday was a re-match against the Caledon Coyotes. With a goal in each period the Aces prevailed 3 to 0.
The final was a thriller of a re-match against Niagara Falls, the team that defeated Stratford in their opening game on Friday. A quick goal in the first 10 seconds of the game put Stratford ahead. Niagara knotted the score in the closing minute of the first and seemed to take command of the game for much of the second period. With 27 seconds ticks left in the game Stratford got the game, and tournament, winning goal.
Individual efforts often go most rewarded in articles like these because space to print them on is limited. It truly does take a team to win a single game let alone a tournament. Not everyone makes the score sheet but everyone contributes: the trainers who get the team ready for the game, the coach that grabs a sweater to stop a "too many men” penalty, the players that chase down loose pucks or pressure opposing puck carriers to cough it up, the defenseman that gets repeatedly crushed keeping a puck in the offensive zone, the one that back checks and stops a breakaway, the coach that tosses his clipboard in the garbage. Sometimes even Herb Brooks and Bruno Mars contribute.
Members of this golden squad, and their tournament point tallies for those that keep score, include:
Goalies Shayla Brooks and Sommer English.
Defensemen: Jenna Akroyd-Snider (1),Avery Boyes, Tarha Keen (1), Meredith MacMillan, Katie Berg and Sam MacLeod.
Forwards: Joanna Van De Walle (2), Jessica Blowes (2), Stacey Shackleton (5), Rachel Nash (3), Kate Schneider (1), Jenna Bouwman, Abby Debus (5), Maddy McNab and Madi McKinley (1).
Coaching staff: Bob Nash, Brian Blowes, Olivia Pethick and Michelle Bouwman.
Congratulations all!!