After a disappointing loss to the London
Jr Knights Green last game, the Waterloo Wolves took out their frustrations on
a pair of London teams over the weekend to get back into the win column with a couple
victories.
First, the Wolves beat the London Jr
Knights White 5 to 1 and then travelled to defeat, the GLHA Jr Mustangs 9 to 0.
The wins gave the Wolves the most wins in Alliance hockey with 16, the best win
percentage in Alliance at 0.810 and the best goals for percentage in Alliance
at 0.737.
Captain Ben Morton continued his
thunderous pace of point production with a hattrick against the Jr Knights. Morton’s
first goal was off a nice redirection on an Evan Walsh shot with Christopher
Ding earning an assist on the play as well. Morton’s second goal was off a
nifty Jack Mayne feed after Mayne undressed the defender and Morton’s third
goal was set up by Logan Murtha. Reed Rozema
scored from Casey Ross and Ross scored from Allan Wang and Ding to cap off the
scoring.
Credit to the Wolves for winning
with class in a blowout game. The players did a good job not throwing salt in
the Mustangs wound. Keegan Weatherdon opened the scoring from Connor Wilson.
Ethan Kralik scored from Wang and Murtha. Jacob Shaughnessy scored from Wilson.
Morton scored from Mayne. Jack Gardner scored unassisted and was a ridiculous
plus 7 in the game. Morton scored from Mayne and Murtha. Rozema scored on a
great Ross feed, Wilson scored after Weatherdon undressed the Mustang team and
Morton scored, again, from Shaughnessy and Murtha. Yes, that is back-to-back
hattricks on the weekend for the captain.
A couple players not on the stat sheet who had
extremely strong and dominant games were Owen Miloje and Jack Smith. Miloje
controlled the pace of the games and distributed the puck with poise and
accuracy, often seeing seams in plays most couldn’t. Smith kills more plays
before they develop into chances than any other player in Alliance. Smith has solidified
his spot as one the league’s premier shutdown defenders and is a main cog in
the team’s amazing penalty kill.
Last, but most important, the play
of the teams’ goalies was, as always, a source of consistency and strength.
Anytime the Wolves take their foot off the pedal, make a mistake or are beaten
to a puck, the teams’ goalies are there to bail them out. The pair constantly
make opposing teams’ lives miserable. Both Jake Howard and Ciaran
Guitton-Quayle are brick walls for the team. Simply put they are instrumental in
the Wolves having the least goals against in Alliance with only 35 goals
against in 21 games.
With only 9 games remaining in the
regular season, the Wolves will need to really put in extra effort in practice
and focus on their systems to get ready to compete for the Alliance banner. To
date, these players have done nothing but work hard and have fun and the
coaches are excited to see how they battle come playoffs.
Go Wolves!