Oct 18, 2013 | ngaylor | 979 views
Major Atoms Finalists in Tim Horton's Invitational in Hamilton
Written by Chris Holloway
The HP Lakers Major Atoms had a tremendous result reaching the finals of the Tim Hortons Invitational Tournament held over Thanksgiving weekend in Hamilton.In Game 1 early Saturday Morning the Lakers started slowly and overcame 2 early deficits and defeated the host Hamilton Huskies 5-3. Aaron Waugh notched the win while Camden Daigle supplied a natural hat-trick in the 3rd period to propel his team. Tanner Dietz and Cole Melady also scored. Assists went to Melady, Ballantyne, Robinson, Holloway and Stecho.
Game 2 Saturday afternoon was a 5-1 loss to a highly skilled Burlington Eagles team. This served as a wakeup call for the rest of the tournament. Luke Gaylor notched the lone goal assisted by Ballantyne. Kyle Powers was sharp in net stopping at least 10 high quality shots.
First thing
Sunday Morning the Lakers defeated the Markham Waxers 2-1. Only a penalty shot in the last 2 minutes denied Waugh the shutout as he had a strong game in the pipes.The Laker penalty killers were also superb as they killed off 7 straight minor penalties including several lengthy 5 on 3 advantages throughout the 2nd period. Luke deVries from Dietzy on a nice solo rush and McLlwain from his linemates Gaylor and Ballantyne, had the Laker tallies.
The win vs. Markham combined with several other results punched the Lakers ticket to the semis. First however they played a meaningless game
Sunday afternoon against Ottawa. The boys knowledge of already advancing had them playing far too loose as they were down 3-0 and 4-1 before battling back and earning a 5-5 tie. McLlwain had a pair, while Dietzy, Sedley, and Daigle had singles. Ballantyne with 3 assists, Holloway 2, Sedley, McMann, and Stecho with one each finalized the scoring summary.
A pool record of 2-1-1 was good enough for 2nd place in Pool A and set up a semi-final early
Monday morning vs. league rival and Pool B winner, Brantford. The 99ers came out strong and scored first but that is all Brantford could get past Waugh the rest of the way as the Lakers earned a 3-1 semi-final victory. Gaylor from McMann, Daigle from Holloway and Dietzy before Mac finished the scoring from Blummer and Sedley, supplied the Laker offence.
The Semi-final win had the Lakers once again staring down a very talented and undefeated Burlington Eagles squad. Daigle scored first from Dietzy and McMann before the Eagles scored 4 unanswered goals to hold a 4-1 advantage midway through the 2nd period. Gaylor from Mac and Mulder and then Harmer from Melady and Dietzy briefly had the boys back within 1 goal
at 4-3 but the Eagles banged in 2 quick ones at the end of the 2nd, to hold a 6-3 lead going into the final period. The Lakers finally started taking the play to Burlington as Dietzy potted 2 quick goals with assists to Melady and Sedley. This set up a dramatic finish to end the tournament and the final result was in doubt until Burlington scored an empty netter with just 9 seconds left on the clock. There was no shame in this 7-5 loss as the boys never gave up and battled until the final buzzer. The boys overcame tremendous odds just to get to the final after 3 very early mornings and a lot of travel up and down the 403. Parents and Coaches are extremely proud of our 2013 Tim Hortons Invitational Silver Medalists!!!