The
Zurich Bantam hockey team claimed the OMHA ‘E’ Championship with an exciting
3-2 win today over the Manvers Mustangs. It was the town’s 6th OMHA Crown since
1935. Th e Mustangs opened the scoring 3 minutes into the game, but the Thunder
battled back to tie it up before the end of the first on a nice shot from Cody
Merner assisted by Devon Steckle and Mitch Finlay. Matt Knight-Bedour scored
half way through the 2nd on an unassisted end to end rush to give Zurich
a 2-1 lead. Then the team killed off a 2 man penalty before Manvers scored with
39 seconds remaining in the 2nd period to knot the score at 2 after
two.
After yet another inspirational talk by head coach Pete Overholt in between periods an inspired Zurich team came out strong and Mitch Finlay scored the eventual game winner from Merner and Knight-Bedour with 9 minutes remaining in the game. The Mustangs pressed hard late with the man advantage and pulled their goaltender to make it a 6 on 4 advantage, but the Zurich team shut the door to secure the victory. Kim Hendrick made several outstanding saves throughout the game for the win in goal. It was a special win as it was the first ever OMHA title for all players and coaches. Other players giving strong efforts were Bryson Volochkov, Mac Bourne, Jeremy Lynn, John Cooke, Jake Earle, Jarret Oke, Elliot Paulger, Mackenzie Hendrick, Will Overholt, Jacob LaPorte and Tyler Merner. The Manvers players and coaches were very classy and respectable in the loss. For Zurich, it was a perfect way to end a storybook season that saw the team win 2 tournaments, finish 1st in Western Ontario League play, win the WOAA Championship and now today accomplish what their number one goal was at the start of the season. The coaching staff is very proud of all the players and know as the years go on they will remember this day for the rest of their lives and should be very proud of themselves also. Thanks goes out to all the supportive parents, families and fans for their dedication throughout the season.