Six games in 3 days (one of those days being Friday the 13th ) proved to be a little too much as the AE’s lost 3-1 to Petrolia in the St Clements Regional Silver Stick Final
The tourney started on the morning of Friday the 13th and it was an unlucky day for the local boys as they lost both games. The 1st game pitted them against Glanbrook and a very slow start saw the Cycs behind 3-0 after the first period. The young men seemed to get their legs in the 2nd as they closed the gap to 3-2 on goals by Steve Cleary & Marty Richards (assists Chris Daviau, Devon Elg, Anthony Quipp, Jason Hollinger). The 3rd period was again control by the Cycs however they where unable to score making the final 3-2 for Glanbrook.
A couple hours later the AE’s would face Strathroy and despite controlling the tempo of the game the Cycs would fall short by a 2-1 score. Ben Verkley would tally Listowel’s only goal on an unassisted effort.
With 2 losses the Cycs finished 3rd in the preliminary round and now had to take the long route facing Oro in the cross-over elimination round. This game saw the local boys get back to the style that has made them successful, hard work and aggressive fore-checking. The Cycs generated several good scoring chances however the game was scoreless heading into the 3rd when Cory George tuck one home from a difficult angle (assist Matt Wilkans). Then with time running out Wilkans would get the empty netter to secure the 2-0 victory (assist Adison Alexander) and a match with Tavistock.
On short rest and facing an undefeated team who hasn’t played today didn’t seem to faze the Cycs as they again came out strong. Some questionable calls slowed the locals but did not stop the boys as they continued to work hard. Tavi would open the score mid-way through the 2nd but George from Justin Bauman would tie the game up a minute later. Tavi would again take the led late in the 2nd. Undaunted the Cycs would tie the game early in the 3rd on an unassisted Drew Hicks goal. Late in the 3rd it would be Hollinger that was the hero as he sniped a shot from the slot giving the Cycs their 1st lead (assists Bauman, George). Elg would add the empty net goal giving the Cycs the 4-2 victory.
In the semis the AE’s would face another undefeated team from Port Stanley. The Cycs would probably play their best positional game of the tournament. Great gapping by the defense and constant pressure by the forward seemed to confused the Lakers run & gun style of hockey. The Cycs would be rewarded mid-way through the 2nd when Elg would tuck home a Bauman feed. Early in the 3rd Wilkans would bury the rebound (assist Verkley) giving the Cycs the 2-0 led. That would prove to be the final as the Cycs protected the led to perfection sending the locals to the finals.
Here the Cycs faced a good Petrolia team, who also was undefeated in the tourney. The Oilers style was very similar to Listowel’s however they seemed to have more jump than did the Cycs. Petrolia built a 3-0 lead up after 2 periods, but the Cycs didn’t give up. Despite losing a couple defense men (1 to injury & 1 to CFB) the locals showed true character as they tallied once in the 3rd (Elg from Bauman & Alexander) and missed a couple great scoring chances which may have tied the game. But in the end they would fall 3-1 to Petrolia.
It should be noted that the goal tending duo of Tyler Hak & Andy Leith played great the whole weekend earning 2 shut-outs and plenty of highlight reel saves. While the versatility of Jordan Rumph & Scott Boertien helped make the shortage of players a non-issue for the coaching staff. Also thanks to AP Tyler Bitton who on short noticed filled in admirably. The team is back in action Tuesday night versus BCH so hopefully all the bumps and bruises that come with playing 6 games in 3 days will be healed.