Bantam Local League 1 are Tournament Champions!
The Oro Bantam LL1 team returned home Sunday night exhausted and excited after winning the A Division Murray Johnson Local League Tournament in Hagersville/Caledonia over the weekend.
The tournament schedule was not in their favor. Their first game was not only against 1 of the 2 hosts for the tournament, but would also prove to be the top seed out of the first place Hagersville Hawks 9 LL teams. They knew they were going to be in tough company but making things even harder was losing a star forward, Owen Heatherington to injury during a practice the week before.
With an already short bench, the team would welcome Aidan Caston who accepted the invite to compete for the weekend. The team was made aware in advance of the caliber of competition they would be facing and they responded accordingly.
In the first game (which is a must win if you are going to get to the A final) the boys came out with perhaps their best 1st period all year. With a renewed commitment to defence and some improved passing on offence Sulli Parker did not miss when he had the opportunity, drilling a shot that could not be placed any better in the top hand corner to go up 1-0. Oro would go up 2-0 in the first 5 minutes before Hagersville awoke, but the defence lead by Carson Gannon and Roger Eddy was outstanding. Our defence was either removing chances or forcing them to the outside making Justin Gausby’s day easier, in a day where he was a little shaky between the pipes. Eric Scott and Jack Puro would make things equally frustrating for the 1st place team as very few chances were getting through making this defensive unit (Carson, Roger, Jack, and Eric) by far the best in the tournament. Final score in game one was 3-1 picking up 4 points of a possible 5.
Oro then moved on to game 2 where the offence exploded for 8 goals and Anthony S. was able to bang in 2 for the night making it his first 2 goal game of the season. Perhaps the most notable was again the commitment to back checking and defence. Eric S. used his size and strength in countless battles and it was joked that Logan Forrester likely lost 4 pounds in the first 2 games because of his 2 way game play. While we missed the creativity of Owen up front, Aidan contributed with speed and just outstanding hockey sense taking pucks wide and creating opportunity down low. Oro would pick up the win in game 2 and collect 5 out of a possible 5 points.
In game 3, Oro was matched with the other Hagersville team (and they of course are tied for first in the standings in their league). The championship final came as advertised. Speed, grit, tight fore checking and excellent goal tending on both sides. It was scoreless until 2:53 was left in the third when Brad Coutts used his speed, taking the puck from the neutral zone and going wide on the D creating enough space to rip a shot top hand corner allowing Oro to take the lead 1-0.
No one celebrated too soon as they knew they still had 2.53 left on the clock against one of their hardest opponents this season. Our captain, Carson Gannon would get a penalty with less than 2 minutes left on the clock on what was clearly an athletic play to the puck in the neutral zone and was given a 2 minute minor. The boys would weather the storm and come away as the "A champs" letting in officially only, 1 goal the entire tournament and Justin Gausby getting the shut out for the second game in a row.
Congratulations Oro Thunder LL 1!
written by Cameron Gausby - team manager.