NIAGARA REGION - The ANAF ‘BB’ Bantams were ousted in the quarter-finals here at the 27th annual Niagara Regional Silver Stick tournament last Wednesday afternoon.
Greg Smale’s charges finished second in their pool, with a 2-1 record, but a 2-0 loss to Caledon Hawks derailed any hopes of a trip to the International Silver Stick event in Port Huron later this month.
An opening-game loss, 4-3 to Tillsonburg, came back to haunt St. Marys. After round-robin play, Tillsonburg claimed first place with a 3-0 record. Had the ANAF squad won their first game, they would have finished in top spot, earned a direct bye to the semi-finals on Thursday, and not had to play Caledon in the quarters.
The Rock let a lead slip away in their opener last Tuesday morning against the Tornadoes.
“We had the game in hand late in the third, and we turned the puck over a couple of times and Tillsonburg scored twice in about 30 seconds, and that changed the whole game,” coach Smale reported.
“It was a bit of a heartbreaker for sure.”
St. Marys regrouped for its afternoon game, and emerged with a 3-1 victory over the Lincoln Blades.
“We pulled ourselves together, and we realized that if we won the next two games we would get second place in our pool,” Smale said.
“The kids played pretty well in that second game against Lincoln. We played smart hockey for all three periods, and got the win.”
The ANAF Bantams made it two wins in a row with a 5-3 win over St. Catharines Warriors on Wednesday morning.
“We got up on them 2-0, and St. Catharines had to win for any chance to move on,” coach Smale said.
“They battled back and took a 3-2 lead, but we didn’t look our focus. We scored a couple of powerplay goals to go up 4-3, and then scored a shorthanded goal to up 5-3. It was a huge, emotional game for the kids.”
Out-shoot Caledon
In the quarter-final playoff game against Caledon (north of Toronto) at Pelham, the Rock out-shot their opposition 20-13.
“We had the better scoring chances, but they scored on a powerplay and got a breakaway goal late in the second period,” Smale said.
“We kept chipping away and their goalie made a couple of great saves. The puck just wouldn’t go in for us.”
In the semi-finals, Caledon upset favoured Dorchester Dragons 2-1, and Tillsonburg defeated the Pelham Panthers 4-1.
In Thursday afternoon’s final, Caledon defeated Tillsonburg 1-0 in overtime. In their last three games, the Hawks allowed just one goal against.