By Spencer Seymour
The St. Marys Cement U18 A Boys St. Marys Rock were an unstoppable force at the Nov. 15-17 Collingwood Silver Stick tournament and marched to a first-place finish as a result.
According to head coach Gord Cookson, the Rock played with tremendous intensity.
“The boys had another great weekend,” Cookson told the Independent. “They picked up right where we left off in our last tournament, where we also took first two weeks ago. They played with a pace that was unmatched and a forecheck that was very effective. The boys had a lot of energy and a lot of fun out there, finishing hits and scoring goals. When we’re playing like that, it makes for a great atmosphere that is hard for other teams to beat and really motivates us to win.”
The semi-finals saw St. Marys play a rematch from the round-robin against the Elmira Junior Sugar Kings, which the Rock defeated 5-1 on the first day of the tournament. The second time around, however, was much closer, as after Griffin McGregor and Colton Henderson scored for St. Marys, each time, the Junior Sugar Kings found an equalizer.
With some stellar goaltending by Luke Binning, Elmira was held scoreless in the third period while St. Marys continued to build their confidence until, with a powerplay during a three-on-three overtime period, Evan Ballantyne buried the game-winner to put the Rock in the finals and down Elmira 3-2.
The goaltending platoon of Binning and Trevor Aarts continued to split the duties in between the pipes, with Aarts playing the final game, which saw St. Marys “outwork and outclass” the Brant Junior Titans, winning 3-0 to take the championship banner. McGregor and Ballantyne scored for St. Marys, along with Blake Lalande.
Cookson praised his goaltending tandem for being able to rotate so effectively, as well as the entire squad for their ability to perform under pressure.
“Having both our goalies playing so well in tournaments that we just have to keep rolling them every other game has been a great problem to have. To say the least, these boys all love to show up for these tournaments and keep elevating their game when it comes to elimination rounds. We’re really looking forward to what the boys are going to bring to the International Silver Stick in Sarnia in January.”
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