Dec 07, 2015 | jgatto | 988 views
Novice AE Windsor Jr. Spits Go Undefeated to Win the Dan Holland- Randy Merton Belle River Tournament
The Novice AE Jr. Spits were back in action again this weekend at the Atlas Tube Centre in Belleriver.
Friday morning’s early match up against Tecumseh resulted in a 2-0 win for the Spits. There was still much of the school day left, so after the game it was back to school for many of the of the players!
Friday evening’s game was against one of the host teams, the Belle River Canadiens. This game allowed the Windsor goaltenders, Renaud and Larocque, to see a little more action than the mornings’ game, however, they remained solid in net and went on to another shut-out victory. 4-0 Spits.
Saturday’s lone game against the LaSalle Gold team was The Spits’ toughest challenge so far in the tournament. The first two periods saw the Spits dominate the play, keeping it mostly in the LaSalle end. Although The Spits had several good scoring chances, they managed to only get one puck by the Sabres goaltender in the first period, and added a second in the third with five minutes to go. It was at this point in the game that the Sabres seemed to have a resurgence of energy and really starting putting the pressure on their opponents. Although The Spits defense remained strong, the Sabres forwards managed to get a few solid shots off at Windsor‘s net. Larocque made some great saves to keep the Spits in the game, only giving up one goal, with 43 seconds remaining. At that point the Sabres decided to pull their goalie, but even with the man-advantage, they didn’t get another shot on net. The final score was 2-1 for the Jr. Spits.
The semi final game took place Sunday morning against Tecumseh. The Jr. Spits lit up the scoreboard! The final score was a 5-1 victory- and off to face LaSalle Gold again, this time in the finals!
The finals saw The Windsor Jr. Spits vs. The LaSalle Sabres Gold on Sunday afternoon. Renaud started in net for Windsor and held the LaSalle players scoreless for the first period then Larocque took over for the remaining two periods. The game looked a lot like their previous game against LaSalle, with a score of only 1-0 in Windsor’s favour after two periods. This time with 6 minutes left in the third, Windsor scored to make it 2-0. The play was going back and forth down the ice but at the five minute mark, LaSalle was called for a tripping penalty, allowing Windsor some breathing room. That didn’t last long, as Windsor got a penalty of their own, and for 1:13 LaSalle was on the power play. But with Windsor’s forwards back-checking, the defense holding the blue line, and Ayden “Plexi-glass” Larocque between the pipes, the Sabres couldn’t get one in the net. With under two minutes remaining, the Sabres coach called a timeout in an effort to rally his team. The LaSalle goalie remained on the bench and an extra attacker went out for LaSalle. It was a great effort on LaSalle’s part, but the time eventually ran out, and the Windsor Jr. Spits Novice AE team were the winners, allowing one 2 goals against the entire tournament! What a record! Great tournament, team!!!
VM