Oct 11, 2011 | mlandry | 1407 views
PeeWees back on track!
After a rough patch that saw the 99 Laker PeeWees lose 5 of 6 games, the team responded with a solid showing at the Markham Majors tourney this past weekend.
In a field of 22 teams, the Lakers made it to the final, losing a close match to Gloucester 3-2.
On Friday, the team opened tourney play with two solid wins, defeating Ottawa Valley Aces 7-1 and Alliance foe Kitchener, 6-0. A trademark of the 99 team is solid defensive play and great puck possession. Both games saw plenty of this as the Lakers had no problem dominating both games. Scoring was as follows:
vs Ottawa Valley
1st period - Jacob Rooke from Rhys Vollmer and Noah Kuno.
1st period - Blair Butchart from Wil Thibeault.
2nd period -Tanner Johnson from Kuno.
2nd period -Thibeault from Tanner Hertel.
3rd period - Butchart from Vollmer and Mitchel Deelstra (PP).
3rd period - Vollmer from Ben Derrough (PP).
Brock Baier was in net and was solid early to keep momentum in favor of the Lakers. Of note, the Pk unit was 5 for 5. The Lakers capitalized on 2 of 7 power play attempts.
vs Kitchener
1st period - Johnson from Kuno.
2nd period - Kuno from Deelstra (PP).
3rd period - Johnson from Derrough.
3rd period - Thibeault from Ashton Stockie.
3rd period - Mitchell Casey from Brett Denny (PP).
3rd period - Thibeault from Hertel.
Bailey Paquette earned the shutout, making key saves when game was close in 1st period. The Lakers were 2 of 9 on power play and 4 for 4 on penalty kill.
On Saturday, the Lakers found themselves back into bad habits. Penalty trouble and unforced giveaways took away momentum gained from Friday's play. A morning 3-1 loss to Ajax-Pickering made the late game against Niagara North a must win in order to advance to Sunday action. While the Lakers didn't have their A game against Niagara, they managed a 3-2 win. Scoring was as follows:
vs Ajax-Pickering
2nd period - Stockie from Hertel (short-handed).
Penalty kill unit was outstanding going 6 or 6. The power play was 0 for 2. The Lakers were outshot in this game and Baier kept the game closer than it was.
vs Niagara North
1st period - Denny from Thibeault.
2nd period - Derrough from Thibeault.
2nd period - Denny unassisted (PP).
The Lakers fell behind early and battled back to score 3 unanswered goals. The power play struggled, capitalizing on only 1 of 7 chances. The PK unit was again perfect, going 3 for 3. Paquette was not tested often in this one but made a key save in the 3rd with Niagara applying pressure.
The Lakers finished round robin in 6th place out of 22 teams, percentage points ahead of Ajax-Pickering to qualify for the final spot in the quarter-finals.
The quarter-final would be played against host Markham Majors. The 8:00 a.m. start time on Sunday did not deter both teams from playing an entertaining game. Both teams skated well and chances were kept to a minimum. The Lakers played a strong defensive game and relied on timely saves from Baier to earn a 1-0 win. Johnson scored the only goal on a rebound.
vs Markham Majors
2nd period - Johnson from Kuno.
The semi-final pitted the Lakers against undefeated and rested Rochester Alliance. This game turned out to be a character win for the Lakers. Down 3-1 in the 3rd period, the hard-working Lakers did not give up and scored 5 times in the 3rd to eliminate Rochester 6-4. Scoring was as follows:
vs Rochester Alliance
2nd period - Kuno from Hertel.
3rd period - Stockie from Kuno.
3rd period - Kade Landry from Hertel and Derrough.
3rd period - Thibeault from Landry.
3rd period - Landry from Thibeault and Kuno.
3rd period - Derrough unassisted.
The PK unit was again perfect, going 5 for 5. All Laker goals were scored even strength as the PP struggled going 0 for 6.
The 3rd and final game was against the Gloucester Rangers. Gloucester finished 5th in round robin play and were also playing their 3rd game of the day. The Lakers started quickly and were up 2-0. Hertel scored first from Thibeault. Johnson continued his strong play by scoring from Kuno. Despite a valiant effort by all players, the Lakers ran out of steam. Gloucester slowly chipped away, eventually tieing the game in the 2nd and scoring late in the 3rd on a power play for a 3-2 win. It was the only power play goal allowed by the Lakers all tournament. Baier was exceptional in net during the final.
vs Gloucester Rangers
1st period - Hertel from Thibeault.
1st period - Johnson from Kuno.
Overall, the Lakers should be proud of the effort in Markham. They fought adversity with injuries and reestablished their style of play. Now back to regular season play. The PeeWees play 8 consecutive regular season games, including rival Hamilton Reps on Laker Day this Saturday October 15 before heading to the Big Nickel Tourney in Sudbury on Nov 3-5.