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Atom Rep - MINTO ATOM REPS WIN THE SILVER STICK REGIONAL QUALIFIER TOURNAMENT.
Submitted By
J Koopman on Monday, December 12, 2011
The Minto Atom Mad Dogs win the "C" championship 2-0 over Flesherton Golden Hawks.
The Minto Atom Rep team also made history as Minto is now the first center to win the "C" championships in both the Atom and Midget age group in the same season. This is a first in the 26 year history of the Wingham Silver Stick Tournament.
The Mad Dogs beat Mildmay 4-1, tied Flesherton 3-3, beat Drayton 5-2, Plattsville 6-2 and beat Flesherton 2-0 in the finals.
2 games were played Sunday on the way to gold.
Game 4
Minto took on Plattsville for the first game of the day. Plattsville was also unbeaten in the group stage so Minto was ready for a good game. This game had to go Minto's way if they were to move on to the championship game.
Plattsville served notice that they were here to win as they took the puck off the faceoff and found the back of the net in the first minute of the period. With clear momentum on their side, an early penalty for Minto meant that Plattsville now had a 5 on 4 advantage also. Minto forwards pressed hard and recovered the puck in the neutral zone and carried it into Plattsville's end where Tyson Koopman would blast the first goal past the netminder to even the score. Will Dennison and Logan Miller get the assists. The game was now tied 1-1 and Minto would hold that score to end the period.
In the second period, Plattsville kept pressure on Minto and created scoring chances but it would be Minto that would score at the 2 min. mark of the period as Tyson Koopman found Parker Miller for the go-ahead goal. Minto would hold that score of 2-1 and end the period.
The 3rd frame was the shift in momentum as Minto would go into high gear. Tyson Koopman would chase down and steal the puck from a streaking Plattsville forward, turn and speed into his opponents end and beat the goalie topshelf to make it 3-1. Plattsville would score an unassisted goal shortly after. At the 9 minute mark, Parker Miller would find an opening on the goalies blocker side as he picked up a rebound from Tyson Koopman to make it 4-2. 2 minutes later Parker Miller would tear up the ice and score unassisted for a score of 5-2. Noah Aitken would step onto the ice to receive a pass from Parker Miller to backhand one past the goalie for a score of 6-2. For the remainder of the period Minto would fire 9 shots on Plattsvilles net and keep the opponents from registering a shot. Final score is 6-2 and Minto moves on to the finals!!
Great job team!!
Game 5
Minto would have to face Flesherton for the finals. With a win and a tie over Flesherton this season, Minto knew they could win one more and hoist the "green banner". From the first faceoff, the Mad Dogs seemed to have lots of energy and were focused to win, they had an edge on their opponents in the neutral zone and in the corners. Only 7 shots were registered from Flesherton in this game as Minto would would fire 11 shots at their goalie. Drew Richardson would make a critical save in the 2nd period to stop a forward that made his way to the net. The first goal of the game would come in the 3rd period as Drew Bell passed to Tyson Koopman who passed it to Parker Miller and he beat the goalie for Minto's first goal. Finally a goal to break the ice. After Minto won the faceoff back to defence, Josh Grey found an opening to take it into Fleshertons's end and fire a shot from the corner that made its way into the net for the second goal. That goal was the final goal of the game and with the dying seconds of the period, the horns, bells, and fans
would go crazy in the stands. The buzzer went and Minto won 2-0. The kids threw their gloves and sticks and piled on goalie Drew Richardson.
Minto Atom Reps win the green banner and will now represent the south western region at the International Silver Stick Finals in Forest, On. on January 27-29, 2012
Thank you to AP's Noah Aitken and Zack Harrow for their support this weekend.
Congratulations to the team for this BIG win and also for being part of Silver Stick history and Minto history.
Hard work, determination and team work pays off and you all proved to yourselves that you can do this. A well deserved win team.
GO MINTO!!!
