Mar 26, 2012 | bmiller | 679 views
Schlueter Hyundai Year End Tournament
Schlueter
finished off the season on a positive note, losing a close game in the finals
of the Championship Tournament.
They started the tournament off against a strong Pillers team. Schlueter was able to take advantage of their team speed on the large ice surface and skated away with a 5-2 win.
The team was able to take an early one goal lead thanks to a goal from Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez and Anderson. However Pillers was quick to reply with a goal of their own to tie the game at one. Finally at the end of a busy first period the lines of Duquette, Davis, and J.DeMers along with Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson both scored quick goals to take a lead that would last the game.
Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez and Anderson would continue their strong game to start the second, scoring to give the team a 4-1 lead. The game would finally slow down from there as Pillers would score another goal before Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson added another to make the final 5-2.
Dietrich, Flanders, Brookes, and Noble also played a fantastic game as the score reflected a total team effort. They were able to hold Pillers top scorers at bay throughout the entire game.
The same can be said for the defense of Haney, Elhedhli, Garland, Steffler, Domaratzki, and Jones. They all bought into our defensive system and handled the offensive attack very well.
C. DeMers played a solid game in goal once again.
Bright and early the Saturday morning Schlueter faced Libro for game two. Late in the first period Libro was able to score to take a 1-0 lead. Schlueter was quick to answer with two quick goals early in the second with goals from Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson along with Duquette, Davis, and J.DeMers to take a 2-1 lead. Duquette, Davis, and J. DeMers were able to score again before the end of the second period to add to the lead.
Schlueter thought they had a safe lead but Libro roared back with two quick goals of their own early in the third to tie the game at three. Schlueter was able to show determination and heart answering quickly with another goal from Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson. The goal would prove to be enough as the team walked away with a 4-3 victory.
Dietrich, Noble, Brookes, and Flanders also played a great game. They once again played a fantastic defensive game with quality effort on the forecheck and backcheck.
The defense pairings also played great. Haney, Elhedhli, Garland, Steffler, Domaratzki, Jones continued their solid positional play and fought hard to the victory in the dying seconds of the game.
It sounds like a broken record C. Demers was once again rock solid in net.
Following the rollercoaster game in the morning the team was set to face Skills Plus in the final round robin game. The team came out looking tired with a bit of a slow start and found themselves down 1-0 early in the first period.
Both teams played hard for the rest of the game and Schlueter threw everything they could against the Skills goalie. Unfortunately there would be no more goals scored for the rest of the game. With a final score of 1-0 Schlueter finished second in the round robin.
With the final round robin standings leaving Schlueter in second and Libro in third it made for a rematch on Sunday morning. The game started like the same old rivalry between the two clubs. The teams battled through the first period without a goal before Duquette, Davis, and J. DeMers put one on the board for Schlueter.
The tight game continued once again though when Libro tied the game with two minutes remaining in the second period. Feeling the pressure Schlueter came out hard in the third. They were able to score five unanswered goals; three from Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson, one from Duquette, Davis, and J. DeMers and one from Dietrich, Noble, Brookes, and Flanders.
Libro would add one late but the final score would be 6-2 for Schlueter moving them onto the finals against Pillers.
Garland, Steffler, Jones, Haney, Domaratzki, and Elhedhli played a fantastic game on defense. They were able to old a high scoring Libro team to only two goals, a key to Schlueters victory.
C. DeMers played the game in net stopping a few key breakaways and two on ones for the win.
Later on in the afternoon the finals would prove to be all they were expected to be. The teams battled hard through the first few periods but Pillers was able to grab a 2-0 lead. The score would stay that way until late into the third period.
After a timeout, with the goalie pulled and less then a minute to go Davis, Horvath, Wigmore-Lopez, and Anderson were able to pull the team within one. With the team pumped up they were able to win the next faceoff and gave it all they had. With one last offensive rush they came within an inch of tying the game after hitting the crossbar with just over ten seconds left. After the fantastic effort it was not meant to be as Pillers pulled away with a close game 2-1.
The defense of Garland, Steffler, Jones, Haney, Domaratzki, and Elhedhli played another great game. They were once again able to hold Pillers to two goals, both of which were on the powerplay.
C. DeMers played another great game, making a number of key saves to keep his team in it when they were down by a goal.
Congratulations Schlueter Hyundai on a great season. As coaches we couldn’t be more PROUD with the improvements seen in the team and each player this year. We had a lot of fun at every practice/game, the Christmas tournament, the team parties, the team dinners, and the year end tournament.
We would also like to thank the parents for a great year and everything you did for the players/ coaches. Thanks for putting up with us University students we look forward to one last team party in a few weeks!
Finally congrats to Pillers, Libro, Skills Plus, Kitchener Rangers, and Lowes on a great season.
Good luck to Pillers in the Record Cup and to the select team next weekend in Buffalo. GO WATERLOO GO!!