This past weekend the Waste Management Minor Bantams started the weekend on fire winning two of their 3 games on the road. The boys fabulous December point streak came to an end in a tough second game against the Buffalo Regals.
On Saturday December 15th the Waste Management Minor Bantams played the Burlington Eagles in a late afternoon game. After one period of play the Eagles were up on the Highlanders 1-0. The second period proved to be a scoring frenzy with Brady Coburn starting the team off in the period with a beauty from Dalton Black and Will Rickerby. The Next two goals were scored by Noah Johnson and Mike Fiegehan with the helpers awarded to Jordan Taylor, Jake Lee, Troy Weber and Shale Blakey. As they head into the third period with a score of 3-1, Troy Weber fired another beauty into the back of the net with the assists going to Mike Fiegehan and Matthew Epoch. After a few tense moments and and the Eagles fighting back with 2 quick goals of their own, the Highlanders kept the lead of 4-3 at the end of the buzzer. Ryan Winter played an excellent game between the pipes while the Eagles worked hard for a comeback.
After a brief stay in Niagara, Sunday December the 16th the team travelled to Fort Erie to play the Buffalo Regals in a double header. Game one the boys came out fired up and ready to play. They also dominated the game with confidence and speed. After the first period the score remaind at 0-0. Tate Millsap was playing great! The second period the goals started to go in the net. The Waste Management Minor Bantams started the scoring with Noah Johnson from Jake Lee. The Highlanders soon put another goal in from Shale Blakey assists being awarded to Mike Fiegehan and Troy Weber. Troy Weber fired a third unassisted beauty to put the team ahead with a score of 3-0. After the Regals fought back to put one of their own up on the board Matthew Epoch added a fourth for the Highlanders with the helper coming from Dalton Black. Not long Will Rickerby added the 5th goal for the Highlanders with the assists awarded to Brady Coburn and Quinton Maddock. The Regals found themselves on the board at the end of the period with seconds to go for a score of 5-2 to start the third period. The third period was end to end action with the Regals holding the Highlanders to their 5 goals. Buffalo managed to put two goals past Tate Millsap before the buzzer but, the Highlanders held the lead for the win with a score of 5-4.
Great job boys~!
Game two of the double header proved to be a bit more of a challenge for the Waste Management Minor Bantams. The Buffalo Regals came to play with the loss fresh in their minds. Once again a busy game for the penalty box and a tough game on the ice physically. The Regals won the game with a score of 9-2. The Highlander goals were scored by Noah Johnson and Josh Urbshott with the assists being awarded to Jake Lee, Quinton Maddock and Shale Blakey. Even when the Minor Bantams have a great win and a tough loss, this humble group of boys handle themselves in a very sportsmanlike manner.
"The most important lesson I've learned from sports is how to be not only a gracious winner, but a good loser as well. Not everyone wins all the time, as a matter of fact, winning is the easy part and losing is tough. But, you learn more from one loss than you do a million wins. You learn alot about sportsmanship. I mean, it is really tough to shake the hand of someone who just beat you and it is even harder to do it with a smile. If you can learn to do this and push through the pain, you will remember what that moment is like the next time you win and a better sense of how those competitors around you feel."
Amy Van Dyken
With heads held high, good luck in Guelph on Thursday. The Minor Bantams hope to see everyone out cheering at the next home game on Saturday December 22 in Chesley against Oakville at 12pm.