The Lambton Sting AAA Minor Atoms came up with a strong showing in a very tough Hamilton Bulldogs Tournament. While they just came up short in their bid to make the playoffs in the 20 team field the Sting did enjoy a win and a pair of ties in their 4 games over the weekend.

Lambton opened the tournament against the host Hamilton Bulldogs and the boys responded with what was probably their best effort of the season. After two scoreless periods the Sting scored a pair of quick goals to open the third. Nolan DeGurse potted both of the goals with assists going to Dylan Riddell and Brandon Neelin. The Bulldogs responded by increasing the pressure on the Sting and would rally to tie the game with two of their own although one of them appeared to go in after the net had been dislodged. Lennex Jagoo had an outstanding game in net to preserve the 2-2 tie.

Game two for the Sting would be another tight affair. Once again the contest was scoreless through two periods before the Sting broke through for a powerplay goal early in the third period of their game with the Syracuse Nationals. Jaycob White would set up DeGurse for what would prove to be the only goal of the contest in a 1-0 victory over Syracuse. Liam McCarthy would stop all 16 shots he faced for the shutout.

Bright and early Saturday morning the Sting would face the Kensington Valley Rebels from Michigan. It would prove to be another low scoring affair and ended in a 1-1 tie. The Rebels took the lead in the second period but DeGurse answered with his 4th goal of the tournament, an unassisted marker, midway thru the third period. The defense led by Ryan Barwitzki, Blake Brand, Cole MacKinnon, Brandon Neelin and Jaycob White enjoyed another strong game in front of goaltender Jagoo, who turned in another great performance.

After a very early morning game the Sting would be forced to wait until late afternoon Saturday before playing their final round-robin matchup. The winner of the game between the Sting and the Quinte Red Devils would advance to the playoffs. Lambton got off to a great start, scoring twice before the game was 5 minutes old. First, Dylan Riddell would score with assists going to DeGurse and Spencer Vandenboom and just minutes later Hunter Monkhouse would assist on a DeGurse goal to make it 2-0. Quinte took the play to the Sting but Lambton held strong and the score remained 2-0 until Quinte finally put one past McCarthy with just 5 minutes remaining in the game. From their the Sting just ran out of gas and the Red Devils would score 3 more times in a third period that saw them fire 17 shots on the Lambton net. The final score was a 4-2 in favour of Quinte.

Lambton returns to league play this weekend and the Sting hope to further solidify their hold on third place in the West Division with wins at Brantford on Friday and home against Chatham on Saturday.