Apr 09, 2025 | Mark Stanley | 1089 views
U11 Tier 1 Finish a Great Season
The last few weeks of the season has been busy for the U11 Tier 1 Cyclones as they have pushed through the playoffs, Gord Hymers tournament and OMHA championships resulting in some incredible achievements.
Gord Hymers Tournament
The hometown team was looking to do the town proud as it took to home ice for this tournament. The team rolled through the group stage with decisive wins over Tavistock, Mooretown and Shelburne setting up a QF match up with Shelburne Saturday evening. Shelburne came ready to play and held a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period before the cyclones found their stride and an eventual 7-2 win. This meant a SF game Sunday vs Kitchener. The cyclones came out flying and built an early 4-0 lead after the 1st period. Some penalty trouble slowed them down, but the kids never gave in and locked down a 5-1 win setting up a final game against the Delhi 59ers. In front of large crowd the team couldn't have played any harder in the final. 0-0 after the 1st period, some breakdowns led to 4 Delhi goals and a 4-0 lead after 2. Listowel fought back and carried the play the entire 3rd period but only get 1 by the strong Delhi goalie. An empty net goal sealed a 5-1 win for Delhi. A great showing for the home team.
Playoffs
The cyclones were placed in a group with Saugeen Shores, Saugeen Valley, Drayton and Kincardine playing a home and home with each team with the top 2 teams moving onto the semifinal series. The players brought their A game from the start and finished the group play at 8-0 which was capped by a decisive 11-3 win over Kincardine to clinch 1st place in the pool. This set up a playoff series with Walkerton and also a spot in the OMHA championships on the line. On a Monday night at home following the Gord Hymers tournament with tired legs the team took on Walkerton in Game 1. Walkerton took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period. A timeout was called to regain some focus, and this is where the team gutted out an impressive tie after a hard-fought 2nd, 3rd and OT period. Walkerton proved to be a tough out as they played game 2 in Walkerton 2 days later, but this time Listowel were able to win a close game by a score of 3-1. This set up a game 3 with took place in Howick due to no ice in Listowel. Again, Walkerton came out flying and after some very nice saves in the first period by Gavin Walls the cyclones found their stride in the 2nd and 3rd period clinching a 4-2 win and a spot in the OMHA Championships! This also set up a WOAA final against Mid Huron. Game 1 in Seaforth was a sign of things to come. Two great teams going at it. Mid Huron got out to a 3-0 lead only to see Listowel fight back and push it to OT where Mid Huron sent the hometown crowd home happy and a 5-4 win. Game 2 the next day back in Listowel it was deja vu as Mid Huron again built a 3-0 lead but again Listowel fought back and Jase Berlett scoring a beautiful goal with 2 mins left to tie it. However, it was just not meant to be as with 54 seconds left in OT and Listowel pressing for the winner in the Mid Huron end a penalty was called on Listowel taking the faceoff down to Listowel's zone where 30 seconds later the game was over and 4-3OT win for Mid Huron. A well-played series by both teams.
OMHA Championships
The team travelled to Halton Hills in hopes of glory against 7 other teams. Listowel in a group with Shelburne, Pelham and South Huron and group 2 consisting of Delhi, Ennismore, Lindsay and Mid-Huron who are all familiar foes from this year. The team started off against Pelham and snuck out a 5-2 win. Game 2 against Shelburne was tight early and 1-1 after 1 period. Listowel starting to find its grove poured it on the rest of the game winning by a score of 7-2. Game 3 being their only game on Saturday against South Huron was a battle for first place in the pool. Listowel came out flying and built a 4-1 lead midway through the game however the tide turned and South Huron fought all the way back to a 4-4 tie. A tie was good enough though to clinch 1st place for the cyclones which set up a semifinal match up against Lindsay who beat Listowel 3-2 in the International Silver Stick final 2 months earlier. Sunday morning at 9am with fresh legs on the biggest stage the team played their best 3 periods of the year dominating from the opening puck drop to the final buzzer. A statement game resulting in a 4-1 win and a trip to the finals. The other semifinal saw Mid Huron beat South Huron 5-4 setting up another Cyclone/Huskies championship game. In the final the kids again showed up from the opening puck drop, it was truly an amazing performance, a back and forth game that resulted in a 3-3 tie after regulation. The cyclones did everything in the first 3 periods to win the game including a post and two crossbars among many other great chances to score. In OT the teams traded chances but still no one could find the net through the first 10min OT. After a flood and much needed rest the teams went back at it and again after trading chances no team could finish the job. In the 3rd OT period Mid Huron was able to get one across the line and in heartbreaking fashion the year was over. The team played their best two games of the season on the last day of the year which just shows what an incredible group of kids they are.
It was an incredible year. 6 Tournaments, 69 games in total with a record of 50 Wins, 13 Losses and 6 Ties. The coaching staff would like to thank all the players and their families for commitment and effort level throughout the year. An amazing group, they should be so proud of how they came together as a team this year and played so hard.