Aces Poise propels them to Shootout Victory
‘Great leaders are distinguished by the success of those they lead, and the entity they lead – be it a country, an army, a corporation or a sports team.’ These were the words of Canadian general Michel Maisonneuve in recent remarks he gave as he accepted the distinguished Vimy award. That could not be truer for the success that is be built by the coaching architects responsible for continually building the performance and the confidence of Aces U13A. The Aces went undefeated for the weekend: 1-0 Friday vs Cambridge, 2-0 Saturday vs Woodstock, 3-1 Saturday vs Bluewater, 2-0 Sunday vs Bluewater in the semi and 1-0 in a shootout win with a very deserving Cambridge Roadrunner challenger for the final in the annual Aces Festival Cup.
Other more local perhaps more relevant quotes heard on the weekend were ‘I think I’m going to throw up… ‘and ‘I think the entire team will be throwing up Monday morning,’ or,’ I watched Pavel Bure do it,’ and ‘that’s why she’s on my soccer team!! ‘, not to mention the ‘Thank you Jesus for my awesome wrist shot’ or ‘Victory is mine! Wait….... damn, I must stop another one for this team ‘and ‘that’s a mighty big blow horn you got there Jeffy.’
The one very official quote for 519 sports that sums up the hard-fought weekend was ‘this is going to hurt tomorrow.’ Indeed, it probably did.
The depth of the lineup posed a consistent threat to the opposition, three solid forward lines provide wave after wave of offence capable at any time to destroy what lays in from of them. The Aces opened their home tourney defeating the Cambridge Roadrunners 1-0 with a squeaker from Myla Burdett, hard puck fighting from Reece Campbell and solid goaltending from none other than Reece Flanagan.
Saturday morning brought the Wildcats at the Rotary where the Aces dominated their local foes 2-0 including the game winner from Leighton Nickel followed by an empty netter from Micki McDonald. The defensive strength came from the entire back line of Finnie, Anderson, Donnelly, Shultz, Burdett and Nyenhuis, who pushed the 2nd period wildcat pressure back.
The Aces faced Bluewater and dominated with brilliant breakout from their zone and constant pinching and point shots from the Ace D line. The gunners would win comfortably 3-1 Saturday evening from Selina Gethke, Taylor Miller and Keira Blain and then again 2-0 Sunday morning in the semifinal with a deflected shot from Reece Campbell and a brilliant late game backhander from Cameron. Bluewater would however push hard in the dying minutes of the semi only to find a perfectly executed neutral zone trap from the Aces push them back.
The final went before a packed Rotary rink of home supporters and would bring the Roadrunners back to see their Ace rivals. The roadrunners would learn from their previous matches vs the Aces by effectively shutting down the Ace breakout, forcing them to dump the puck deep, stalling the Ace offence. The Ace D was equal to the task and allowed minimal shots on Flanagan by getting in front of the puck and fighting hard in the corners.
The game went down and deep into a shootout where, only after Cameron and Gethke could respond to Roadrunner goals, the ever unpredictable Leighton Nickel, in a deft move, with ice in her veins, faked the bobble of the puck, recovered with a skate to stick pass and poked it under the sprawling Roadrunner netminder for the golden goal shootout. The arena erupted with jubulation, a side of laughter, and pride for Stratford's own.
Congratulations to the home win Romeo Pet Hospital Aces U13A, you’ve done us all so very proud.
