The U16 Huron-Perth Lakers attended the OHL Cup on March 30th - April 4th, playing a total of 4-games against some of the top teams in the province. Below is a summary of all the games played in the event.
GAME #1 - March 30th vs Waterloo Wolves
The Waterloo Wolves pulled off a comeback, defeating their ALLIANCE rivals, the Huron-Perth Lakers, 4-3.
Waterloo opened the scoring at 5:53 of the first. Atley Rogers (1) tied the game at 12:39 of the first with an assist from Luke Bogart (1). Blake Elzinga (1) scored at the 1:12 minute mark of the second period, with assists from Isaac Nickel (1) and Teague Vader (1), putting the Lakers up 2-1. Waterloo scored shortly after to tie the game at 2-2. Jesse Coombs (1) put the Laker ahead 3-2 at the 4:54 mark of the second with an assist from Caeleb Bowler (1). Waterloo tied it up again, and the game remained 3-3, heading into the third. Waterloo scored the game-winner at 3:50 of the third period. Colby Booth-Housego had the start in the net and made 16 saves on 20 shots. Lakers fired a total of 15 shots on the Waterloo net.
Player of the Game:
Lakers – Atley Rogers (F) – 1G
Wolves – Brady Martin (F) – 1G
GAME #2 - March 31st vs Quinte Red Devils
After our opening game loss, the pressure was on against the #5 ranked team in the Province, the Quinte Red Devils.
Scoreless heading into the third, Quinte scored on the powerplay with 2:21 into the third. The Lakers wouldn’t give up as captain Tate Vader (1) tied the game with only 50 seconds left in regulation, with the assists going to Luke Bogart (2) and Caeleb Bowler (2).
“Scoring that goal was great. I haven’t had one in a while, especially with Covid giving us a mini-retirement with all the tournament cancellations, so getting back in there and having a good game was pretty nice,” said Vader.
“It was a battle this morning. Quinte’s a pretty good team, and so are we.”
In what was a great defensive battle, neither team was able to score in the 3-on-3 five-minute overtime period.
Huron-Perth’s Carter McCluskey blocked 30 shots earning Player of the Game for the Lakers. Quinte’s Ben Danford was also awarded game honours. Quinte outshot the Lakers 31-24.
Player of the Game:
Lakers – Carter McCluskey (G) 30 SV
Red Devils – Ben Danford (D) – 1A
GAME #3 - April 1st vs Thunder Bay Kings
Day three saw the Lakers still in the hunt to advance to the Quarter Finals but required two wins for the day. Three periods plus overtime solved nothing between the teams as they finished in a scoreless tie.
In the battle between the pipes, Thunder Bay’s Carter George (20 saves) and Huron-Perth's Colby-Booth Housego (19 saves) didn’t allow a goal, coming up with big saves for their teams in both regulation and overtime play.
Booth-Housego earned the Huron-Perth Player of the Game and talked about what it took to keep the puck out of the net.
“It took a lot of teamwork. I couldn’t have done this without my defensemen and forwards blocking all those shots. It was a full team effort.
"It means a lot to play at such a big event, especially with all the scouts. All the boys are excited to be here,” added Booth-Housego, speaking on what it means to compete at the OHL Cup.
Player of the Game:
Thunder Bay – Morgan Henderson (D)
Huron Perth – Colby Booth-Housego (G) 19 SV
GAME #4 - April 1st vs Markham Majors
Playing for pride in our final tournament game, the Lakers came out with their best tournament effort. The team lost a tight game 3-2 in overtime to the #4 ranked team in the province.
After a scoreless first, Markham opened the scoring only 59 seconds into the second. The Lakers responded right away, with Atley Rogers (2) getting the Lakers on the board less than a minute later to tie the game 1-1. It remained tied heading into the third period.
Isaac Nickel (1) potted his first tournament goal just over a minute into the third period to put the Lakers up 2-1. With the Lakers playing a near-flawless game, it looked like an upset was in the making. Markham had other ideas, putting extreme pressure on the Lakers in the final two minutes, and tying the game at two with only 1:53 remaining on the clock. Markham kept the momentum into the 3-on-3 overtime and buried the winner at 3:38. Carter McCloskey was outstanding between the pipes and earned Player of the Game for the second time in the tournament.
Player of the Game:
Majors – Liam Greentree (F) – 1G
Huron Perth – Carter McCluskey (G) – 20 SV
The Lakers finished the OHL Cup with a very respectable record of 0-2-2. Three of the four games went into overtime. The Lakers gave up eight goals in four games while scoring five times.
Atley Rogers (2G-0A-2PTS), Isaac Nickel (1G-1A-2PTS), Luke Bogart (0G-2A-2PTS), and Caeleb Bowler (0G-2A-2PTS) led the team with two points each in the tournament.
Thank you to the OHL Cup and Under Armour for sponsoring a fantastic event!