The
final weekend of the season saw the Waterloo Wolves clinch first place, winning
the Alliance U18 League Championship, and then had two meaningless games where
there was little to play for other than a team goal of ending the season on a
10 and 0 run.
Mission
accomplished.
In
the end the Wolves finished with 23 wins, 4 losses and 6 ties for a 52-point
season. No team in the league surrendered less goals against (61) and only one team
scored more than the Wolves 120 goals. The team ended on a 10-0-0 run and saw
contributions from every player. In the past 10 games the Wolves were ranked 2nd
in all Ontario and overall, at this writing, 8th in all Ontario. The
dressing room is as tight as any room I have ever been in, and the team
continues to work hard looking to earn an opportunity to play in the OHF
Championships.
Friday,
the Wolves beat the Kitchener Jr Rangers 4 to 1 to clinch the league title. It
was the Cole Hunsberger show with Hunsberger collecting a hat trick in the
game. His first goal was set up by Jake Patterson and Matthew Ball. His second
from a sweet Jackson McNichol stretch pass and Yianni Peppas and his final goal
was from Carson Bernhardt and Ball. Griffin Beddis powered through the Rangers
to score an unassisted goal as well. Mitch Simmons started the game and put in
a fantastic performance giving the Rangers very little to work with and helping
keep them frustrated.
The
high energy and excitement of the rival game left the Wolves…….can we say,
uninspired, against the Sarnia Sting? When comparing the performance from one
night to the other it was hard to even identify the Wolves but as the saying
goes, good teams find ways to win, even if it’s not always pretty. The Wolves 3
to 1 win was ugly. McNichol continued his
hot offensive play with a nice goal from Ryan Beckner. Ball scored from Caleb
Cumming and Jacob Reid-Brant scored from Tyler O’Hearn and Matthew Anderson.
Ben Pendleton made the saves he needed and did a great job remaining focused despite
some stretches of no action.
Off
to London Sunday to face the GLHA Mustangs. Funny how things come full circle.
The Wolves started the season with a 3 to 1 win over the Mustang and finished
the season with a 3 to 2 win. This game was another snooze of a game with
everything all decided for the Wolves. The team had several players out of the
line up including Tate Merritt, Cullen Derry, Reid-Brant, Peppas and
Hunsberger. Beddis got the Wolves on the board first from Bernhardt. Connor
Palmer scored from O’Hearn. Declan Uniac scored Cumming and McNichol. It was a
chippy game and Cole Ledgister delivered some heavy hits on the Mustang. Simmons
picked up his second win of the weekend as well.
A
big congratulations to the players of the Wolves! All season long the players
worked hard and knew winning the league would be the first step in achieving their
goal of becoming Alliance Champions and winning the OHF Championship. It was a
great first step and the hard work starts very soon with playoff hockey
intensity ahead. The team will honour the 2005 born veteran players at a team
dinner Monday night, get a night off Tuesday and start on their quest to banner
Wednesday. As the team prepares for what they expect to be a long playoff run
we wanted to thank the parents for their dedication and involvement this
season. It has truly been a season to remember!
Thank
you.