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!