Nov 13, 2022 | Brendan Magee | 279 views
U13 Reps take the title in South Muskoka!!!
The U13 Rep Cyclones beat their WOAA rival Saugeen Shores Storm by a score of 4-2 to take the championship at the Dan Bell Memorial Tournament!!
It was championship Sunday at the Dan Bell Memorial Tournament in South Muskoka which saw the Listowel Cyclones taking on the Saugeen Shores Storm in an all WOAA final. Head coach Mike Brooks had already told the team after their semi final win that if we were going to stick around Bracebridge until late in the afternoon we better make sure we won the whole thing! It didn't take any more motivation for the group as they were clearly determined to leave cottage country with the title. The Cycs came out flying and scored on the first shift as (who else) Emerson Smith buried after a nice passing play by Patrick Magee and Rory Magee. The rest of the period saw the Cyclones apply all sorts of pressure on the forecheck but they were unable to get anything else past the stingy Storm goaltender.
The second period started much the same as the first as the Cyclones came out on the attack and it was no surprise to anyone when Smith scored his second of the game on an unassisted effort. With no further scoring the teams headed to the final frame with the boys from Listowel up 2-0 and fifteen minutes away from a championship.
Earlier in the day the Storm had battled a tough Ajax Pickering team in the semi finals winning in overtime so the Cyclones knew they had to keep their foot on the gas as the push from the Saugeen Shores team was sure to come. It didn't take long as the Storm were finally able to get some net front pressure on goalie Hunter Donegan on the power play and banged a rebound into an open net to cut the lead in half. As they've done all weekend the Cycs responded quickly as Zack Brooks sprung P Magee on a two on one with Coleson Beirnes who buried a rocket of a wrist shot top corner to restore the two goal lead. To their credit the Storm didn't quit all game long and with 5 minutes left put a puck on net that took a funny hop and made it's way through to cut the lead to 3-2 and set up another exciting finish. This may seem like a broken record but as he had done all tournament Emerson Smith picked up a loose puck in the corner after some ferocious forechecking by his linemates and fired it home over the goalies shoulder to provide a cushion for the Cycs with four minutes to go. This was as close as the Storm would come as the Cyclones shut the door and took the final by a 4-2 margin.
With his 4th hat trick of the tournament Emerson Smith would finish as the leading scorer with 13 goals, 1 assist and 14 points in 5 games. Goalie Hunter Donegan finished with a very solid 3.19 goals against average, picked up a shut out and stood tall in all five games for the champion Cyclones. The defense corp made up of Jade Campbell, Grayson Matheson, Rory Magee and Waide Beirnes were amazing all tournament as they held the offensive blue line, keeping pucks in allowing the forwards to start the cycle again and not letting the opposition exit the zone. Along with Smith, the rest of the forward group comprised of Zack Brooks, Tyse Hayter, Hudson Ireland, Cole Parsons, Patrick Magee and Coleson Beirnes were a relentless on the forecheck all tournament hemming teams in the zone will controlling the play and hammering the opposition with shots. As a unit the team played very solid in their own end game after game limiting the oppositions chances and for the most part with clean exits allowing the offensive part of the game to shine.
It was a great weekend for the boys in red, black and white, capped off with two dominant performances when it matter most!!