Mar 26, 2023 | Brendan Magee | 146 views
U9 Cycs lose a heartbreaker in OT in the B Finals of the Mt Forest tournament
The U9T1 Cycs travelled to Mt Forest on Friday and Saturday to play in a year end tournament. The finished with a record of 1 win and 2 losses which was good enough to see them play in the B final on Saturday afternoon where they lost 2-1 in overtime to the host Rams.
Game one saw the Cycs play a familiar foe in the Drayton Defenders. As seems to be the norm, the Cycs struck first when Ian Magee scored just over a minute into the contest. The Defenders would respond quickly and then score the next 8 before Alton Sholdice would find Magee alone in front to tuck in his second of the game. Final score was 8-2 for Drayton. In a lopsided affair, Magee would take the Cycs chain after a 2 goal effort.
Game two had the Cycs up against the Kinucks, this one turned out to be spirited affair with 9 penalties between the two teams. The first period would see the teams trade chances but neither team was able to break through, the frame ending with donuts on the board. The Kinucks would 3 on the board in the 2nd and take the lead into the final period. In the third the Cycs would find their legs and would get on the board 30 seconds in on the power play when Sholdice went d to d with Zack Reynolds who would find Magee at the side of the net to bang it home. Less than two minutes later the other Reynolds twin Bethany would find a wide open Tyce Passmore in front of the net who wasted no time burying the biscuit and cutting the lead to 1. The Kinucks would respond on the power play to restore a 2 goal lead but with just under 4 minutes left Magee would add another on some diligent work in the corner by our little bulldog Oliver Gutnecht to give the Cycs life. Unfortunately the comeback would fall short as Kincardine would score and the contest would end 5-3 in their favour. Although he didn't' hit the scoresheet,Hunter Adamson was flying all game and would take the Cycs chain.
It was win or go home time for the Cycs on Saturday afternoon as they took on the Central Perth Predators. The Cycs had a game plan in this one to try and slow down the Preds uber talented defenceman Brooks Ward and in the end were successful holding him to one goal. Maddox Birk would get the boys on the board first mid way through the first as he was rewarded for some hard work along with Gutnecht in the corner followed by a hard drive to the net. Birk would assist Adamson with less than a minute left to give the team in red a 2-0 lead at the end of the first. Adamson would continue the hot hand in the 2nd with a short handed goal early in the 2nd followed by another on a textbook chip out of the defensive zone by Magee to give the Cycs a 4-0 lead mid way through the 2nd. To their credit the Preds didn't quit and fought back in the later part of the period to get the back to 4-3 heading into the 3rd. It's not often you see a u9 team play a shut down period but that's exactly what happened in the third as they knew they had to hold the one goal lead. The two forward lines played a perfect 1-2 forecheck and the defence pairings gapped up at the blue line not letting the Preds get any real scoring chances, when they did get a shot Sully Meulensteen stood tall between the pipes. Magee would add an empty netter with a minute left, a full team effort was had in this one to send the team to the B final vs Mt Forest later that afternoon. With a hat trick, Hunter Adamson kept the Cycs chain for this efforts.
The B final would see the kids play the Rams on full ice for the first time this year. It would turn out to a close checking and physical game with both teams playing great. Down to 9 skaters the team would lean on the dcorp of Brandt Donaldson, Fin Long and Alton Sholdice and like they did all tournament didn't disappoint playing stingy all game and minimizing chances for the Rams. The Cycs would strike first midway through the first on a Birk goal set up by his centreman Magee. The Rams would get late one on the power play to tie the game at 1 heading to the 2nd. The next two periods would see both teams get scoring chances, neither team able to beat the goalies who both played magnificent. Sully Meulensteen was a rockstar in net this game turning away almost everything he saw and was a huge reason the game stood at a score of 1-1 after 3 periods. Now the teams would head to 3 on 3 sudden death overtime for 5 minutes and then a shoot out if needed. Early in the OT Magee would block a point shot and head in on a partial breakaway only to find the post. Minutes later the Rams would end up with a broken play behind the Cycs net and bang in a loose puck to send the home crowd wild as their team would pick up a hard fought 2-1 OT win. Both teams left everything on the ice and the coaching staff couldn't have been prouder of the group. In a game like this we wish we had 10 chains to give but Oliver Gutnecht was a little buzz saw all game on the forecheck and the backcheck and picked up the Cycs chain for his efforts.
This team has played a lot of hockey in the past two weeks, most of which with either 9, 8 and even 7 skaters. They gave it their all and should be proud of their efforts even though the losses out tallied the wins.
They are back on the ice on Tuesday and Wednesday when they welcome the Mid Huron Huskies and Mitchell Meteors in the final two games of the U9 season.