Peewees Narrowly Miss Tournament Final
The Peewees finished second in their pool but would come up a little short against the Windsor Jr. Spitfires in the semi-finals on the weekend in the Niagara Festival of Lights Tournament.
The boys played strong all weekend but a Canadian-like third period collapse resulted in the Highlanders failing to reach the final game. In the semi-final game, Grey-Bruce came out of the first period with a first period lead on a goal by Jake Wilson. Early in the second Justin Donnelly would build on this lead giving the boys a 2-0 lead starting the third frame. With 10:53 left in the game the Spitfires would strike. The sonic boom still being felt as they did another flyby to even the score at the 10:01 mark. The Highlanders would regain their composure but the spits would strike once more just after the eight minute mark. With the chance of a final birth on the line Grey-Bruce would pull out all the stops but just could not even the score, eventually giving up a empty net goal to finish the game with a 4-2 score. A tough end to a fantastic tournament effort!
Earlier in round robin play the Highlanders would go 2-1-1. They opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over the host Niagara Falls Canucks. Niagara would open the scoring but the boys would battle back with to tie the score in the second with a goal from Brady Stewart and would then take over the lead, never to surrender it, on a third period goal from Justin Donnelly.
Next up, the Oshawa Generals. After having all day to soak up the sweet feeling of a victory against a regular season opponent, the boys seemed to loose focus, falling 5-0 to a large General team.
Grey-Bruce would rebound Saturday morning with a hard fought 5-4 win over Tonawanda Lightning. The Lightning would strike first but before the glare had gone out, nine seconds later, the Highlanders would battle back to tie the score with a goal by Braeden Marshall. Tonawanda would score late in the period to take a lead into the second. The Highlanders would come back with two of their own in the second from Tristin Park and Logan Freiburger. The Lightning refusing to go out would come back with two themselves in the third but Grey-Bruce would again retake the lead on goals from Brady Stewart and the eventual game winner from Jake Wilson.
The Saturday night game against Rochester Alliance resulted in a 1-1 draw after Rochester had lead from late in the first but a late third period goal from Matthew Gill would give the Highlanders second place in their pool, thereby advancing Grey-Bruce to the semi-finals on Sunday against the Windsor Jr. Spitfires.
Fantastic effort Boys!!! Exceptional desire to succeed and never accepting failure!!! Way to BATTLE!!
