MIDGET ADVANCE TO SILVER STICK SEMI-FINALS
The Midget Reps travelled to Wingham and Blyth over the course of the last week for their Regional Silver Stick Tournament. The Cyclones were one of twelve teams in their division and were grouped with South Huron, Paris and Mitchell for a round robin, with the top team moving on to the semi-finals
The South Huron Sabres would be the first opponent. The Sabres only had nine players show-up for the Sunday morning game, and the Cycs quickly took advantage. Three goals were scored in the first period, three more in the second and two more were added in the third to give the Cycs an 8 – 0 victory. Matt McCracken led the charge with a hat trick and one assist, Travis Bender, Conner Dewar, Ryan Goetz, Matt Wilkans and Ben Verkley had one goal each and assists went to Verkley, Luke Binning (2), Bender (2), Goetz (2), Connor Johnson and Jordan Linstead.
On Wednesday night, the boys took to the ice against their league rivals from Mitchell. Despite outplaying the Meteors in the first period, the boys couldn’t find the back of the net. The Meteors took advantage of some sluggish play from the Cycs and walked away with a 3 – 0 victory.
After a rousing pre-game speech from Coach Josh, the boys came out flying on Saturday morning in the Blyth arena to face the Paris Wolfpack. Knowing that a loss would end the team’s tournament, the boys came out hungry and used their speed and some fine passing to earn the win. Cody Matheson lit the lamp on the powerplay midway through the first with assists going to Goetz and McCracken. Wilkans took a nice pass from Binning and beat the goalie late in the first. The second period saw lots of chances at both ends, but neither team bent the mesh. Verkley found the back of the net early in the third with an assist to Binning, and Goetz scored unassisted to round out the scoring. Listowel won 4 – 1 and earned first place in their division to put them into the semi-finals on Sunday morning.
The Tavistock Titans finished first in their division and would prove too powerful for the Cycs to handle in the semi-final game. The Cycs worked hard and played a great game, but they just couldn’t muster enough offence to beat the solid Titan defense. The final score was 4 – 0 in favour of Tavistock. Tavistock would lose to Kincardine in the final game.
The coaching staff is very proud of how the boys played and the work ethic that they showed throughout the tournament.
