The young Cyclones continue their winning ways as they won all 5 games in Elmvale on route to defending their championship titleFriday afternoon Listowel would face-off against St George and the Cycs came out prepared as they scored 4 times in the 1st period. Drew McKee got it started from Keaton Willis and Caleb Warren, then seconds later Warren buried a Riley Conners pass. The flurry continued when Broedy Karelse scored with Willis assisting and Owen Bender rounded out the 1st period scoring from Warren and Bryce Fletcher. From here the local lads would coast to a 7-0 victory. McKee, Willis and Cole Dannemann scored n the 3rd with Blake Buchanan, Brendan Hall and Warren picking up assists. Steven Gottfried earned the shut out.
Game 2 was early Saturday morning against Oro. The Thunder would open the scoring with the Cycs responding late in the 1st period on a nice shot by Warren. The game was back and forth but the Cycs would capitalize in the 2nd on Warren’s 2nd goal with Bender and Parker Yungblut grabbing the assists. Then in the 3rd Listowel would blow the game open scoring 4 times in the 10 minute period. Karelse would notch a pair while Conners and Matt Koch would each get one. Assisting on these tallies were Karelse, Buchanan, Conners, Bender and Dannemann. Braeden Ellis picked up the victory in net as the Cycs rolled to a 6-1 win.
Game 3 pitted Listowel against Penetang, and with the Flames needing a win to advance they came out determined, forcing the play early. The Cycs would weather the heat and again Warren would open the scoring with seconds remaining in the 1st. The 2nd period would see the Cycs parade to the penalty box as they were short-handed for almost the whole period. Despite being short the Cycs would tally twice in the period (Koch from Hall and Fletcher from Warren & Bender). Listowel and Gottfried would hold off the strong Penetang team securing a 3-1 victory.
Sunday morning, again early, would see the Cycs face Flesherton in the semi-finals. This game was a fast paced, see-saw affair. The Golden Hawks would open the scoring only to have Willis tie it up. Flesherton would again take the lead but this time Bender would even the contest (Willis & Warren assisting). The Cycs would take their 1st lead of the game mid-way through the 3rd as Fletcher converted a Buchanan feed and then Dannemann would seal the deal just minutes later (Warren & Willis assisting).
In the finals the Cycs would face South Huron and the local lads would control the play from the start however the Sabres goaltender would stand tall in net thwarting several great scoring chances. Willis would solve the scoring mystery late in the 1st then again with seconds remaining in the 2nd (Dannemann and Karelse assisting). This would be all the offense needed as the Cycs win 2-0 capturing back to back Brian English titles.
The coaching staff was pleased with the teams overall effort but noted the exceptional play of the defensive core (McKee, Hall, Yungblut, Buchanan and Ben Rothwell) and goaltending (Ellis & Gottfried) as the team only allowed 4 goals in 5 games. The bantams next action is Sunday night when they host Saugeen Shores.
Front (L-R) Steven Gottfried, Braeden Ellis Middle (L-R) Owen Bender, Bryce Fletcher, Matt Koch, Blake Buchanan, Keaton Willis, Drew McKee, Riley Conners, Brenden Hall Back Row (L-R) Cole Dannemann, Broedy Karelse, Ben Rothwell, Caleb Warren, Parker Yungblut Coaches (L-R) Larry Gordon, Rob Hollinger, Bruce Fitzgerald, Jerry Rozendal absent Riley Thompson & Brian Tucker (taking the picture)