An exciting weekend of hockey for the Waste Management Peewee Highlander team, picking up a win on Sunday, things are looking up for the post Xmas tournament in Burlington.
The team travelled to Oakville on Saturday December 17th, and came away with a disappointing 5-1 loss. Lone goal was a shorthanded goal from Mitchell Newson, assisted by Jacob Lee. The team left the rink with focus on Sunday which would be a double header against the Niagara Falls Rivermen at the Chesley arena.
The first game was an exciting back and forth battle. The first period would go to Niagara and the score was 1-0 at the end of the first. The Highlanders answered back scoring 5 goals in the second period. Starting things off was an unassisted goal by Jocob Lee. Not to be outdone, Will Rickerby put one in followed by two from Noah Johnson. Assists went to Lee (2) and Rickerby. With less than a minute on the clock Mike Feigehen put one in the net with assists to Troy Weber and Brady Colburn. At the end of the second the score was now 5-3 in favour of the Highlanders.
Leading into the third the Highlanders defensemen took control and kept the Rivermen at bay. Weber notched the sixth goal shorthanded with just under five minutes left in the period, with an assist from defenseman Danny Skinner. The Rivermen attempted a last ditch effort and pulled the goalie to score two goals in the last minutes of play, the last one with only 2 seconds on the clock! But…it would not be enough and the Highlanders would walk away with the first two points for the day.
After a team lunch hosted by the Highlander team, the players took to the ice for game 2 of the day! Another exciting match up. The Highlanders started off strong and finished the first with a 2-0 lead over the Niagara team. Settling back with their lead, the Highlanders let the Rivermen take away the lead in the second, allowing the Rivermen to score 4 while the Highlanders answered with zero goals in the second.
Trying to build momentum late in the third, Newson scored a shorthanded unassisted goal with less than 5 minutes on the clock. Lee answered with another unassisted goal less than 2 minutes later. This was Lee's third goal of the game, giving him the hattrick! Time would not be on the side of the Highlanders as the Rivermen would sink an empty net goal in the last few seconds of the game to end things at 6-4.
With injuries plaguing the Waste Management Peewees, they will need to dig deep and play like the team they are at the upcoming Burlington tournament December 27-30th.