Dec 30, 2011 | mmerner | 418 views
Bantam's Claim 'A' Championship In Home Tournament
The Zurich Bantam Thunder won their 2nd tournament of the season and extended their winning streak to an impressive 14 games in front of their home crowd.
Game 1 : 5-2 Win vs Petrolia
After a cautious start to the game, the locals scored a late first period goal, followed by 2 more in the second. Petrolia battled back to make it 3-2 half way through the third, before Zurich scored 2 late markers to seal the deal. Bryson Volochkov lead the attack with 2 goals and an assist, followed by Matt Knight-Bedour with 2 goals and an assist, Cody Merner with a goal and an assist, Mitch Finlay with 2 assists and John Cooke with 1. Will Overholt and Kim Hendrick split goaltending duties for the win.
Game 2: 1-0 Win vs Embro
In quite possibly their best played game of the year, with a full team effort, playing a big and strong Embro team with a great goaltender, the locals squeaked out a 1-0 crowd pleasing victory. The Embro team pulled their goalie late for an extra attacker, but the kids held on for the win with steady pressure and some great goaltending throughout from Kim Hendrick. Bryson Volochkov notched the lone goal on an assist from Jeremy Lynn. Mack Hendrick was unfortunately injured in this one with a shoulder injury and was placed on the disabled list indefiniately, best of luck recovering.
Game 3: 4-3 Win vs Mildmay
The 'A' Championship finals was a see saw battle with Zurich being down a goal early, before battling back to take a 2-1 lead by the end of the first. Mildmay responded to knot the score at 2 after two periods. The locals went up by one, half way through the third before Mildmay tied it back up 40 seconds later, and with 4 minutes remaining Zurich went up 4-3. The visiting team again pulled their goalie late, but to no evail, as the boys worked hard to preserve the victory. Head coach Pete Overholt was all out of finger nails after these two nail biters, but was quick to respond how happy he was with the way this team comes up with new ways to impress him and the coaching staff. They come to PLAY and PLAY HARD each and every game with great desire. Their hard forecheck and backcheck work ethic is something few teams can accomplish, the whole team should be proud of themselves, hopefully it can be kept up for the full season. Leading the attack in the finals was Finlay and Volochkov with 4 points each, Merner and Steckle with 2 each. Will Overholt made several key saves in goal for the win. Other strong defensive efforts in the tournament were given by Jake Earle, Jarett Oke, McCallum Bourne and Elliot Paulger.