The hockey Gods can be cruel. And they were Sunday. The Waterloo
Wolves watched an unusual bounce land on a Kingston Canadians stick to finish the
Wolves tournament 2 to 1 in the semifinal game. Simply, the team deserved
better.
Cole Ledgister rallied his team back into the game with a goal to tie the score from Riley Webster in the third period. The tie remained after the 3rd period, and we saw the game head to a 3 on 3 sudden death where the Wolves suffered their only loss in the tournament.
The Wolves start the round robin with a 3 to 2 win over the Edmonton SSAC Mustangs. Declan Uniac opened the scoring from Matthew Ball and Cole Hunsberger. Ben Yong scored from Webster and, as the 519 Sports commentator said, Griffin “Big Goal Beddis” put home the winner shorthanded from Jaxon Broda.
Hunter McMurdo and Tim Hodson stole the show in a 2 to 1 win over the Kanata Blazers in game 2. McMurdo made two amazing passes to Hodson and Hodson made no mistakes on either play putting them in the back of the net to finish the day a perfect 2 and 0.
With a tough schedule, the Wolves next faced the Markham Islanders. The stage was set for a great game as both teams were undefeated and both teams were top teams in Ontario. It was a nail biter as expected and the Islander were lucky to end the game with a point after a late goal. Jackson McNichol had the first goal of the game from Broda and Ball before Jackson Dietz had the second goal of the game from Cooper Gaul and Beddis.
The tie allowed the Kingston Canadians to slide into the top seed as they remained a perfect 3 and 0 going into the final game of the round robin. As the coaches have become accustomed to seeing, the players responded to the challenge and came out flying. Cole Hunsberger opened the scoring with a pair of goals. His first goal was from Ball and Uniac and his second from McNichol and Broda. Jackson Andrews’ line was finally rewarded after an extremely effective round robin. Andrews had the goal from Ethan Wasylyshyn and Michael Wei. Uniac blocked a dump in attempt and had an unassisted breakaway goal to close the first period. Broda added a goal in the second and a wild penalty filled third period saw Wei net the 6th goal as the Wolves skated to a 6 to 3 win.
The win put the Wolves in a dead lock tie with the Islanders. The first tie breaker was head-to-head matchup, which was also a tie, so the Islanders got top seed due to goals for differential.
Both Wolves goalies had fantastic tournaments and traded Player of the Game honors in the round robin. Jack Driscoll might have saved his best for last and was a beast in nets for the Wolves in the semifinal. Driscoll made clutch stops for his team when he was needed most and helped give the team a chance to rally back and tie the game. Nate Sexton put in a performance against the Blazers that was remarkable. Sexton made a huge windmill glove stop on the Blazer players who was wide open in the slot. Without his heroics the team doesn’t go undefeated in round robin.
In all honestly, coming up short, especially at home, leaves a bitter taste in the players mouths. You could see it in the room after the game. This team is built on character and “meat and potato” play and is a blue-collar hard-working unit. The coaches reminded the players these tournaments are crucial to them learning how to win the League Champions and raise that Alliance banner. The goal remains the same and the players have once again come out of the tournament a better team.
A special thank you to every player for their hard work and dedication. You have made your coaches proud.
Go Wolves!