Dec 31, 2014 | rmartin | 1724 views
Bantams win Regional Silver Stick
The South Bruce Bantam Rep team travelled to Kincardine over the holidays to defend last year's Regional Silver Stick title.
With a much different line-up this year (only 4 players from last year's Bantam Rep squad) the South Bruce boys knew they had some hard work ahead of them if they wanted to repeat as Silver Stick Champions. Nine teams consisting of TCDHMA, Plattsville, Flesherton, West Grey, Minto, Lucknow, Shallow Lake, Wingham and South Bruce were competing in this year's event.
South Bruce would square off on Sat. morning with Lucknow for game 1 and after a lacklustre effort, the boys would salvage a 1-1 tie.
Game 2 had the West Grey Warriors on the opposing bench. With the score 1-0 in the first period, West Grey would be awarded a penalty shot after being tripped up on a breakaway opportunity. Carter would make a key save to shut the door and keep the momentum going for the South Bruce lads. From the point forward, the good guys from South Bruce would walk away with a 5-2 win.
Game 3 would see the local boys tangle with their well-known opponents from Flesherton. Over the years, the battles with Flesherton have always been low scoring affairs and this contest proved to be no different. Flesherton would get on the board first and South Bruce were forced to dig deep if they wanted to beat the Golden Hawks goalie. Early in the second period, the local lads would finish off a nice 3 way passing play to dent the twine and knot things at 1 apiece. South Bruce would jump on a loose puck in the early stages of the 3rd period and score on a breakaway to take the lead 2-1 with 13 minutes remaining. With the fans on the edge of their seats, the South Bruce boys would shut down all Flesherton attacks and hang on for the 2-1 victory.
In the semi-finals, the Plattsville Rage would be the next opponent sitting on the home bench. These two teams have never met before, so it was anybody's guess what would take place. The South Bruce lads came out flying and dominated the play throughout the game, but only carried a 1-0 lead in to the 3rd period. The boys in black would score twice early in the third to create some breathing space and a 3-0 lead. Plattsville would pull their goalie with 3 minutes remaining on the clock for the extra attacker and would pounce on a rebound to break the shutout, but the South Bruce boys would go on to score 2 empty netters and make the final 5-1.
The win would put the South Bruce Bantams back in the final showdown on Tuesday afternoon for the second year in a row. The other semi-final had TCDMHA beat Minto in a shoot-out, so it was a Rebels vs. South Bruce tussle.
South Bruce would carry the momentum right from the first puck drop and score on the second shift of the game and never look back. Another goal early in the second frame would make it 2-0, before TCDMHA would score a short-handed marker to narrow the lead to 2-1. South Bruce would quickly respond to make it 3-1 and 4-1 heading in to the intermission. TCDMHA came out in third period desperate for some offense, but the stingy South Bruce boys were in "shutdown" mode and aside from a second Rebels goal with the extra attacker late in the game, the boys in black were in full control right to the final buzzer. Final score was 4-2 for the South Bruce Bantams and a well-deserved Silver Stick Championship banner.
The South Bruce squad now travel to Forest on Jan. 23rd-25th to compete at the International Silver Stick tournament. For some of the boys, they are defending their International title from 2014 and for others on the team it is their first taste of International experience, so it should be fun.
Congratulations goes out to the all of the players on the team for a great tournament and good luck in Forest. Team members include goalies Zach Girdler and Carter Schaus, along with Jeremiah LeMay, Garret Kreager, Jordan Borth, Trevor Fischer, Austin McKeachnie, Kalen Cassidy, Brayden Fischer, Ty Turnbull, Curtis Ruetz, Rhys Martin, Kyle Durrer, Connor Borth and watching from the sidelines with injuries were Caleb Tolton and Clayton Dietz. The team coaching staff consists of Ryan Martin, Troy Fischer, Tyson Soers, Bill Lark and Trainer Scott Girdler.
Go South Bruce Go!