Heart, determination and character.
Three characteristics your Waterloo Wolves displayed in spades as they marched through the Orangeville Fall Classic, earning their first championship of the season.
The Wolves proudly wore the underdog label all weekend as they fought hard to earn respect and left validated with the banner. It was anything but easy. Headed into game one the team found out they would be without key players Jacob Shaughnessy and Connor Wilson. A huge blow for the team but an opportunity for the players available and they made the most of it, and then some.
In game one, the Wolves faced the Upper York Admirals and took little time showing how they were going to play; with speed and tenacity! The Wolves rolled to a solid 5 to 3 win. Jack Mayne opened the scoring from Ben Morton. Keegan Weatherdon showed his scoring touch with a hattrick in the game. Weatherdon’s first goal was set up by Morton and Mayne, his second goal again was set up by Morton and Mayne and, you guessed it, his third was from Morton and Mayne. Morton added a goal of his own from Owen Miloje and Weatherdon.
Up next the Wolves face the Soo Sault Marie Jr Greyhounds and pounced on them winning 5 to 1. This time Allan Wang opened the scoring for the team from Reed Rozema and Logan Murtha. Rozema then went on to score a pair of goals with his first from Wang and Christopher Ding and his second from Morton and Wang. Morton scored from Murtha. Ethan Kralik scored from Miloje and Rozema. The win put the Wolves into the top spot in their pool.
It was a battle of the top seeds in each pool to start things off on day two, with the Oakville Rangers edging the Wolves 4 to 3. The result was not what the Wolves wanted but the silver lining of showing they could, not only compete with the best, but at times, carry and dominate play, was extremely encouraging. Casey Ross had a highlight reel goal to open the scoring from Connor Wilson, who returned from injury. Weatherdon continued his hot play with a goal from Mayne before Mayne added a goal of his own from Weatherdon and Evan Walsh.
The St Thomas Jr Stars were not much easier of an opponent in game two of the day. Especially since the team played with a short benched and a very difficult and demanding style of play. The Wolves motor never stopped and they were like killer bees swarming teams all weekend. But you could see some fatigue in this game. And even worse, they saw a cheap shot on Mayne take him out with a broken hand. Despite this, the Wolves skated to a 1-1 tie to clinch top seed in their pool on a goal from Mayne assisted by Morton and Wilson.
In the semifinals the Wolves faced the Admirals once again. As everyone knows it’s a hard task to beat a team twice in the same tournament, and the Admirals responded to the defeat by the Wolves with 3 straight convincing wins. That said, the Wolves were not ready to roll over and the team played inspired hockey and rose the challenge with another 5 to 3 win over the Admirals. Rozema sent a rocket bar down to open the scoring from Wang and Jack Smith. The admirals scored 3 unanswered goals before the Wolves stormed back with a goal from Wang assisted by Rozema and Liam Gould, a goal from Morton assisted by Weatherdon, an unassisted, head faking beauty shorthanded by Wilson and the insurance marker from Morton to seal the deal and send the Wolves to a rematch with the Rangers in the finals.
There was no question the Rangers were the favorites to win the game after thumping the Orangeville Flyers 3-0 in their semi final game. The Rangers are a big, fast and skilled team that look the part as a top seed in Ontario. Full credit to them as they are structured and well coached. Someone forgot to tell the Wolves they were supposed to just be happy to be in the final. Miloje broke a scoreless game with a nice point shot from Wang and Morton scored from Weatherdon and Murtha to give the Wolves a two-goal lead that was short lived as the Rangers cut the lead in half 20 seconds later. It sparked the Rangers, and they attacked in waves, but the Wolves kept their poise and Weatherdon netted a huge insurance marker from Morton to finish off the Rangers and take home the banner!
The Wolves showed off a lot of scoring ability with nifty passing and relentless attacking all weekend but, without question, they also saw solid and reliable goaltending all tournament. Make no mistake the Wolves do not win this tournament without the stellar play from Jake Howard and Ciaran Guitton-Quayle. Both goalies made clutch saves when their team needed them and were calm and reliable. The pair give the Wolves two extremely responsible goalies that instill confidence in their teammates.
A big thank you to all the parents for a fantastic weekend filled with support for the players. Tournaments are an opportunity for the team to learn how to win and bond. The players took home more from this weekend then a banner and gold medal. They took home an understanding of what it takes to win in U18 AA/A and a preparation to hit the ground running in their Home Opener against the Brantford 99ers.
Keep up the hard work Wolves!