The Atoms headed into the Bill Batten Memorial tourney in
South Huron knowing they we going to see some strong competition... And despite
playing hard fell a little short in the semi-finals.
Game 1 on Friday morning saw the young Cycs face the strong Kincardine Kinucks team, who they battled to a tie just a few days earlier. This game saw the local lads come out a little sluggish, but despite them not playing their best they hung around in the scoreless draw through 2 due to some great goaltending by Jack Zilliax. Kincardine would eventually breakthrough in the 3rd due to a couple of turnovers, at that's all they would need as they held the Cycs off the board, 2-0 final.
Game 2 pitted Listowel against the Lambeth Lancers, and again a poor start resulted in a quick Lancer lead, however as the game continued the Cycs started to find their stride. Tate Vader would get the local lads on the board early in the 2nd on unassisted goal, but Lambeth would answer just minutes later. The Lancers would extend the lead to 3-1 before the Listowel squad would pick up the intensity. Cole Schouten would cut the lead to 1 then with 3 minutes remaining Vader would tie the game at 3. The Cycs continued to press but couldn't break through making the final 3-3
The 3rd game saw the young Cycs needing a win to get a 2nd or 3rd seed in their division but this was going to be tough as they faced TCDMHA and a couple very strong Rebel players. The 1st period was pretty even but as the period ended Schouten slid a low shot past the Rebel tender (assist to Leland Weber & Jesse Coombs). The Rebels gun answer back in the 2nd scoring a couple goals just seconds apart. Undaunted Coombs would respond on a nice dangle tying the game at 2's (Schouten & Jeremy Hamilton assisting). The Cycs would again surrender a goal to the Rebel sniper, which lead to more late game heroics by Vader making the final 3-3.
With the 2 ties Listowel would finish 4th meaning they had to cross over and play the 1st place team in the quarter finals and as fate had it that meant a rematch with TCDMHA. This time the Cycs came out much more determined and competed on every shift. Their efforts were rewarded in the 2nd when Logan Reyes banked home a tough angle shot giving the young Cycs a 1-0 led (assist to Reid Williams & James Bender). Some of the unheralded stars, like Sheldon Weale, Colin Spalding, Kaden Sharpin, Rowan Alexander & Nathan Coverdale battled hard throughout the game and used their speed to stymie TCDMHA, but a tough bounce would see the Rebels tie the games with 2 minutes remaining. 3 on 3 overtime saw lots of excitement and scoring chances by both teams, but the biggest would be a spectacular save by Zilliax in the dying seconds of overtime. This game would need a shootout, and like Mooretown, the Cycs would squeak this one out and head to the semis (Reyes, Schouten scoring on the shootout).
The semis would see Listowel again face a familiar foe, in Lambeth. Like the 1st meeting the Cycs looked sluggish early on, and this time Lambeth would take advantage. However the early goal seemed to wake up the Cycs and a nice point shot from Hamilton would tie the score. The Lancers would again take the lead as some poor clearing attempts would eventually end up in their net. The young men from Listowel pressed hard and despite tired legs they wouldn’t quit. With 6 minutes left Reyes would find the back of the net, making the score 2-2. Again regulation would solve nothing and overtime was needed. 3 on 3 would again prove exciting however the Cycs were on the wrong end of a couple calls, resulting in an tense penalty kill in the extra frame, however their determination prevailed and again we'd need a shootout. This one would take 5 rounds and unfortunately would end on what could only be called a controversial goal... But none the less the hard-working lads from Listowel have nothing to hang their heads at as they faced the best 3 teams in the tourney and again proved that they can compete with any of them.
The next big test for the Atom Cycs will come in a couple weeks at the Silver Stick in Wingham. Coach Nic Seiler notes "if we work as hard as we did in the last 2 games, we should see some nice results in Wingham".