U13 LL Boys Blue earn gold at thrilling Georgian Shores tournament

The Easy Lift Doors U13 LL Boys Blue St. Marys Rock won the gold medal at the Mike Hammond Memorial Tournament in Georgian Shores Feb. 28 to March 1. Pictured in the first row, from left to right, are Ben Massellis, Ryan Zwambag, Adam Agar, Lucas Richardson, Lucas Sampson, Liam McSherry, Shea Ross and Dalton McKenzie. In the second row, from left, are Lynkin Mykicz, Derek Vernooy, Aiden Deboer, Jack Rietmeyer and Chase Hinrichs. In the back row, from left, are Chris Richardson, Andy Agar, Mark Ross and Gibson Agar. Not pictured were Vanessa Vernooy and Jeff Masselis.

By Spencer Seymour

Drama wasn’t in short supply when the Easy Lift Doors U13 LL Boys Blue St. Marys Rock captured the gold medals at the Mike Hammond Memorial Tournament Feb. 28 to March 2 in Georgian Shores.

After a strong round-robin that included two shutout victories, the Rock finished first in their pool with a perfect three-for-three record, setting them up for a semi-final clash with the Stoney Creek Warriors. The Rock found themselves down 2-0 at the end of the second period, but according to head coach Andy Agar, he was thrilled with his team’s ability to bend but not break.

“It was super special the way the boys battled back after we were down by two going into the third,” said Agar. “We were getting frustrated and started running around a little bit, but we as a coaching staff kept telling the boys to leave it all on the ice. We finally cut the lead to one with Adam (Agar) scoring with 4:22 left, and that seemed to light a fire and the boys were buzzing after that.”

With around 90 seconds to go, St. Marys pulled their goaltender in favour of the extra attacker and, in the heat of a net-front scramble, Ryan Zwambag jammed home the game-tying goal to make it 2-2.

An exciting five-minute, three-on-three overtime solved nothing, sending the game into a shootout. With St. Marys’ first two shooters being stopped and the Rock’s goaltender, Luke Sampson, making some fantastic stops, Adam Agar took the ice with a chance to win the game. His father, the bench boss, described a heartfelt moment in the moments leading up to the third St. Marys shot in the shootout.

“I asked Adam (Agar), ‘(Do) you know what you’re doing?’ ” Andy Agar said. “He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘(Are you doing) the deke you always practice?’ And he again said, ‘Yes.’ He went out and pulled off the amazing deke he has practiced repeatedly and scored with it. It was a real proud dad moment for me (and) brought some tears to my eyes.”

In the gold-medal game, the Rock met the Tillsonburg Tornadoes Two who, like St. Marys did in Pool B, finished in the top spot of Pool A and entered the championship contest having not lost in the tournament up to that point.

The high-octane final was once again tied at the end of regulation with both teams going scoreless through three periods. In the extra frame, Zwambag came up with another massive goal when he banged home the game-winner in another battle in front of the Tornadoes’ net to give the Rock the tournament’s top prize.

Sampson earned the team’s third shutout of the weekend to help secure the tournament’s top prize.

Andy Agar raved about his team’s performance in the gold-medal game.

“Tillsonburg was a big, strong, fast team that was also undefeated going into the finals. Both teams were so hardworking. I was so proud of our boys as we don’t have the longest bench, but our guys came ready to play incredibly hard. Luke (Sampson) played extremely well in the finals. Ryan (Zwambag) scored another clutch goal for us. After the game, we got the best compliment we could ask for when the Tillsonburg coaches commented on how hardworking our team was.”

Reflecting on the weekend as a whole, Andy Agar explained what made the Rock successful throughout the tournament.

“The way all the boys were battling every game for every puck. Our players were just relentless. Aiden (Deboer) really stood out all tournament. He had two two-goal games and a hat-trick in the first three games. Our captain, Derek (Vernooy), is such a great leader. He plays hard, scored a couple of big goals and really urged on the boys to play their hardest and stay in check all tournament. And our goalies, Dalton (McKenzie) and Luke (Sampson), both played really well all weekend with both getting shutouts.

“Lately, we have had a couple of poor games,” Andy Agar continued. “Once we went down on the scoreboard, we would fall into a lull and have trouble keeping our energy where it should be. Our play was super successful over the weekend because they never gave up and our work ethic and backchecking were excellent. Everyone’s efforts were left fully on the ice and we just wanted it every game. The consistency was there every game and we are super proud of them. They really deserved this.”