The Stephens Equipment Bantams season ended on March 3rd at the SCTA Qualifier Tournament and did not advance to the OMHA Championship Tournament scheduled at the start of March Break as the team had hoped to accomplish. They finished 2-2-0 on the weekend, winning over St. Catharines and Burlington, but falling to Hamilton and Welland.
The
first game was against Hamilton on Friday morning and things started off well for
the Highlanders with a quick goal just 42 seconds into the game, Brady Anderson
(Arran-Elderslie) scoring, assisted by Ethan Skinner (Kincardine) and Marshall
Smith (Kincardine). Then Hamilton did a
quick turn-around on the Highlanders and with some luck had a 3-1 lead just
over 2 minutes later. For the rest of
the period the Stephens Equipment crew worked hard to even the score back up,
but with 2:01 left in the period and both teams playing 4-on-4, Hamilton won
the face-off back to their point-man in the Highlander end and scored on the
slap shot to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
Hamilton added to their lead with a man-advantage goal at 8:56 of the
second. At 3:16 Caleb Stephens
(Collingwood) scored on the power play after a nice tic-tac-toe passing play with
Ben Van Ooteghem (Saugeen Shores) and Graydon McArthur (Chatsworth). The team’s spirits were up after that goal,
but again Hamilton shook their confidence just 29 seconds later with a fluky
goal from behind the Highlanders net, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 lead going into
the third period. The Highlanders and
Bulldogs played a scoreless third period to end the game.
The
Stephens Equipment team’s next game was against the St. Catharines Niagara
North Stars and turned out to be a high scoring affair. Once again it started off well for the
Highlanders as at 13:47 Van Ooteghem fed the puck out to Stephens alone in the slot,
where Stephens got off a snap shot and then picked up his own rebound to stuff
it into the open net. Hunter
Robins-Gibbons assisted on the play as well.
The Stars evened the score up at 1-1 at 12:59 and then took a 2-1 lead
while on the power play, just as a 5-on-3 man-advantage ended at the 10:04 mark. Stephens got his second goal of the game
early in the second period during a man-advantage, assisted by Van Ooteghem and
Garrett McFadden (Kincardine) to tie things up at 2-2. At 10:40 the Highlanders took the lead on a
fortunate bounce as Spencer Elder (Owen Sound) attempted a pass out from the
Stars corner and one of the defenders knocked into in the net off their own
stick. Jordan Vanhaelemeesch (Saugeen
Shores) and McFadden got assists on the play.
The scoring didn’t stop there, as the Niagara North Stars scored at 8:37
to tie the game up again at 3-3 and then scored two more before the end of the
second period to take a 5-3 lead into the third period. It didn’t look good for the Highlanders as
the third period started, but at 13:33 Vanhaelemeesch scored, assisted by Tyler
Rolfe (Shelburne). The team then got a
goal at 11:48 by Van Ooteghem to tie the score up at 5-5. Elder and Brenden Welsh (Owen Sound) assisted
on the goal. With the momentum going
their way, the Highlanders took over the rest of the period, getting goals from
McFadden, Van Ooteghem (his second of the game) and Skinner to end the game on
a great come-from-behind 8-5 score.
Stephens (two), Smith, Jamison Buck (Collingwood) and Darcy Witt
(Collingwood) got helpers on the remaining goals.
Game
three was played the nest morning versus the Burlington Eagles. This game the Eagles opened the scoring with
a power play goal coming at 10:30 of the first period. The Highlanders got back to evens with the
Eagles 23 seconds later as Vanhaelemeesch scored, assisted by Logan Davidson
(Creemore) and Rolfe. Burlington scored
at 8:17 to restore their lead but once again the Stephens Equipment team tied
things up at 6:43 when Stephens scored, assisted by Van Ooteghem. The Eagles retook the lead early in the
second period at 13:29 and it wasn’t until 4:22 that the Highlanders scored on
the man-advantage to make it a 3-3 score.
Anderson got the goal, assisted by Skinner. Third period saw Rolfe score at 8:07 to give
the Highlanders a 4-3 lead, assisted by Vanhaelemeesch and Robins-Gibbons. Near the end of regulation the Eagles had a
man-advantage and the goalie pulled, but McFadden gained possession of the puck
near centre ice and fired it down into the Eagles net to finish the game on a
5-3 note.
Going
into their final game, against the Welland Southern Tier Admirals, the Highlanders
needed to win the game with large enough goal differential to ensure a chance
at going on to play Sunday’s game to advance to the OMHA Championship
Tournament. Winning would put have put
the Highlanders in a possible three-way tie with Welland and Hamilton and the
top two with the better goal differentials would play on Sunday. The Highlanders got the opening goal at the 6:43
mark when McFadden scored, assists coming from Van Ooteghem and Stephens. Forty-five seconds later the Admirals scored
to tie the game at 1-1. At 5:08 the
Admirals scored again and took a 2-1 lead.
The Stephens Equipment crew held off the Welland team for the rest of
the first period, but then the Admirals exploded with three back-to-back goals,
taking a commanding 5-1 lead. At 7:43
the Highlanders Van Ooteghem scored while on the man-advantage, assisted by
McFadden and closing the score to 5-2. Hopes
of a repeat of Friday’s second game against St Catharines were short-lived as
Welland got a man-advantage goal at 4:59 to restore their 4-goal lead heading
into the third period. The Highlanders
didn’t give up, but the Admirals played a good defensive game to protect the
lead. At 10:09 Anderson scored off a
rebound shot from Vanhaelemeesch to make it a 6-3 score and a 5-on-3 man-advantage
around the 7 minute gave the Highlanders once last chance to get back in the
game, but the Admirals were admirable as they kept the Stephens Equipment team
off the board. At 3:19 Welland scored
one more time to close the game out with a 7-3 score and putting the
Highlanders out of contention.
Todd
Elder and the coaching staff deserve a big Thank You for their hard work and commitment
to running the team and congratulations on another good year of hockey. The team matched last year’s 42 point mark
despite all the injuries and had some success with a few tournaments. The players themselves should be given credit
for their hard work and dedication over the season as well. Let’s hope the 97’s can improve on their game
some more next year.