The Waterloo Wolves earned the finalist title at the
Oakville Winter Classic dropping a hard-fought game to the Oakville Rangers 5
to 2.
After the Wolves were told last minute the Buffalo Outdoor
Classic would not be happening the team scrambled to find a final tournament
and were fortunate to find a hole to fill in the Oakville Winter Classic.
It wasn’t what the team had hoped for, but it was a tournament,
nonetheless. And interestingly, it turned out to be the second largest in North
America and ran very well.
The Wolves earned a pair of wins and a tie to win their pool
in the round robin:
Game 1: 3 to 3 tie with Orangeville Flyers
The Wolves slept walked through two periods to fall behind 3
to 0 before waking up in the third and tying the game thanks in large part to
Antonio Parisi and his two-goal effort. Parisi first goal was set up from Owen
Ottens and Dell Wang. His second was from Logan Landry. Wang scored between the
goals from Ben Schofield and Ottens.
Game 2: 7 to 2 win over Kemptville Royals
Both Landry and Wang had two goal games with Parisi earning
an assist on one Landry goal and Casey Ross getting an assist on the other. Both
Wang goals were assisted by Grayson Seiling. Carter Talboom had the hattrick in
the game and played like a warrior all afternoon. Hiatt Rich and Schofield had
a pair of assists on the goals.
Game 3: 3 to 1 win over Cambridge Hawks
Ross had a pair of goals and Parisi also scored for the Wolves.
Ross and Landry had assists on Parisi goal and Landry had an assist on Ross
goal.
Semi Finals: 5 to 0 win over Quinte West Golden Hawks
Talboom and Seiling had a pair of goals with Reed Rozema
scoring on and end to end rush. Rozema had assists on both Talboom goals and Seiling
had an assist on the second Talboom goal. Ross set up the first Seiling goal as
well as the Rozema goal. Wang and Logan Murtha had assists on the second
Seiling goal.
Finals: 5 to 2 loss to Oakville Rangers
The death blow very well could have been the simultaneous 4
minutes head shot call…..times two! The Wolves went down 5 on 3 for 4 minutes
and paid the price. It was a rare and questionable moment in the game. Cole
Gardiner scored the first goal from Landry and Rich had the second from Ben
Sawyer.
It was back to the same old for the Wolves with players
missing. The team was without Allan Wang, Cam Murray, Jackson Hunter, Ciaran
Guitton-Quayle and Christopher Ding. They also had three players battling
through injuries doing all they could to help their team.
Jake Howard was a force for the Wolves all weekend. Howard
played in all five games and provided his team with stellar goaltending. His teammates
always step on the ice feeling confident with him in the crease. He made
several saves he had no business making and limited rebounds and did everything
in his power to win. His efforts were extremely appreciated.
As they say, there is no rest for the wicked. The wounded Wolves
will make their way to Woodstock to battle the Navy Vets in league play. The Wolves
need to earn every available point to secure a playoff position and go after
that Alliance banner.
Thanks to all the players for their efforts and for rolling
with the changes from Buffalo to Oakville. The coaches knew they were
disappointed and it might have made their ability to fully engage a tad harder,
but they fought through and did well.
Go Wolves!