This past weekend the Minor Atom AAA travelled to Hamilton to participate in the Tim Hortons International tournament.  The boys went undefeated with a 3-0-1 record but unfortunately, due to the tournament schedule they were denied a ticket to the semis, while 2 of the teams that did make it,  not only had 1-3 records but also lost to us.

 

Game 1

Our first opponent was the Brantford 99ers on Saturday morning.  Much like the last meeting this game was pretty tight checking with most of the play being done in the neutral zone.  It wasn’t until 5 minutes into the second period that Josh Vale found the back of the net from a nice centering pass from Cameron Rombouts to put the Sting up 1-0.  This lead did not last long as the 99er’s finally penetrated our defense to tie the game at 1-1.  

In the 3^rd the Sting did get their chances to get the go ahead goal but were turned away by some great goaltending from the Brantford netminder.  Brantford did press as well, but our entire defensive corp. did a great job clearing loose pucks in front of the net and keeping the shots to the outside. This game would end in a 1-1 deadlock.  MVP of the game was Nolan Farr.

 

Game 2

The second game on Saturday was played against the host team, the Hamilton Reps.  The 1^st period was not great one for the Sting, as Hamilton seemed to be working harder to get the loose pucks.  This hard work paid off, as it always does, with Hamilton scoring the only goal of the period.

By the 2^nd period the Sting started to get their head and hearts into the game.  Brett Allardyce put the Sting on the board, with a great pinch off the right boards and drove to the net putting in his own rebound, assisted by Curtis Marks.  Later in the period the boys got into some penalty trouble and ended up shorthanded 5 on 3.  The result was not good as Hamilton scored with 18 seconds remaining in the period.

The 3^rd period did not start out well as Hamilton found some open ice and capitalized with another goal to go up 3-1 with 12 minutes remaining in the game.  There must have been the realization on the bench that this game could be over if things didn’t change, because in a matter of 4 minutes the Sting buried 3 goals to take the lead 4-3.  Scoring were Cameron Rombouts with 2 and Carson Payne with a single with assists going to Nolan Farr, Gage Langford and Josh Vale.

The final result was 4-3 Sting. MVP of the game was Carson Payne.

 

Game 3

On Sunday morning the Orangeville Flyers were the next opponent for the Sting.  It was Jakob Knowles turn in net and he was tested early while the Flyers were on a powerplay, with a great high shot from the slot that was headed for the top corner but was snagged by his quick trapper to keep the game scoreless.  Soon after, Cameron Rombouts drove to the net and was taken down while shooting, resulting in a penalty shot.  Rombouts made a nice deke to the forehand and put the team up 1-0 going into the 2^nd period.

While on the powerplay Nolan Farr scored to put the Sting up 2-0, assisted by Carson Payne and Curtis Marks.  Later in the period Duncan Core and Joe Correia made a nice D to D pass and then to a streaking Theo Crombeen who took a nice hard wrist shot that beat the goalie on the far side.  

Going into the 3^rd the Sting were up 3-1, but were anxious to put this game out of reach and insure the victory.  They scored 2 more goals one from Cameron Adam and the other from C. Payne.  Assists going to Dante Fuoco, N. Farr and Brett Allardyce.

The final score… 5-1 Sting.  Cameron Rombouts was MVP of the game

 

Game 4

The last game of the round robin was against the South Central Coyotes, a team we beat at the Earlybird tournament in London.

This was a well played game by the whole team.  The offense were able to put the puck in the net, our quick defense smoldered their forwards and our goalie (Cole Doig) made some key saves when called upon that eventually earned him a shutout.

The Sting managed to keep the puck deep for a lot of the period and this pressure paid dividends for Dante Fuoco who opened the scoring midway through the period, assisted by Cameron Adam and Nolan Farr.  The second goal came in the 2^nd period as N. Farr broke into the offensive zone and took a shot that produced a juicy rebound for Carson Payne to take advantage of.  The last goal sealed the game for the Sting as Cameron Adam and Luke Ross went in on a 2 on 1, Adam passed to Ross, then took the return pass and put it into a wide open net.  Sting win 3-0.  Cole Doig was MVP of the game.