The R. McNiven & Sons Insurance Ingersoll Express Atom Rep team took part in the Rob Johnson Memorial Tournament in Paris over the weekend of November 2-4. It was a 5 game trip for the team from game 1 through to the finals, and the boys didn't disappoint at all with their performances.
As mentioned in an earlier article, the boys started off their tournament on Friday night with a 6-1 victory over Burford.
Saturday morning saw the boys facing host Paris in an early morning game. The game was very much in Ingersoll's control, and the team played excellent as a team. Each of the goals in the game had a very exciting and noteworthy play to it. The first goal was setup by Cole Ellis with a great pass from behind the goal line to Symon Hutcheson who was waiting out front in the slot. Symon made no hesitation at all and buried the puck to put Ingersoll up 1-0. And although that was eventually all that they would need, the team didn't back off at all, with additional goals from Parker Hodgson who picked up a nice rebound for a wrap around, Ben White who put home another pass out from the corner by Ellis, and Nolan Adkins who made no mistake on a pass from behind the net by Brennan Rupert.
Next for the boys came the skills competition. Representing the team were:
Fastest skater - Parker Hodgson
Breakaway challenge - Brennan Rupert
- Logan White (goal)
Relay skating - Nolan Adkins (backwards)
- Ethan Emerson (defence)
- Cole Ellis (forward)
Parker had his hands full with Tori Verbeek from Flesherton, and after making it through the first round went head to head with her in the second round. In what seemed like a photo finish, somehow Parker crossed the centre line just fractions of a second behind the player from Flesherton.
Next up was Brennan Rupert in the breakaway challenge. Three pucks for Rupert, and three goals for Rupert. On to the final round vs. a player from Wallaceburg and a player from Paris. But, both goaltenders in the first round held their own, and Rupert and the Paris player were shutout. It was down to Wallaceburg vs. White. Logan did his best to take away the bottom of the net from Wallaceburg, but unfortunately was only able to keep one of three from crossing the goal line.
In the relay, the boys again did a great job competing against the other teams involved, but didn't quite have the quickness of some of the other teams, and finished third.
Next, it was time to get back to what was really going to matter for the boys though, and that was marching through the rest of the tournament. Up next, Flesherton. This looked to be the toughest challenge for the team, and after watching the first period the fans in attendance felt that this was a preview for the Championship game on Sunday. A first period goal by Parker Hodgson gave the boys the lead going into the end switch between periods. But then Flesherton responded with a power play goal in the second, and going into the third period the score was knotted at 1-1. Third period though was a chance for a new hero of the game to step forward, and the veteran presence of Daynt Racicot did just that. Racicot put the puck past the Flesherton goaltender, and the Ingersoll boys held on for the 2-1. Thank goodness for the extra hour's sleep on Saturday night too - I think everyone was so wound up after this game that they were gonna take a little longer to get to sleep Saturday night.
Sunday the team arrived at the arena not knowing who it would be that they would be playing against. Their opponent was a fresh team that they hadn't faced yet - Wallaceburg. After a close fought first period, it was time to open things up and guarantee that spot in the finals in the afternoon. On another feed out from by Cole Ellis, Brennan Rupert was able to knock home the puck past the Wallaceburg netminder, and put the Ingersoll team up 1-0. From then on it was just gravy, with addition goals being added by Daytn Racicot (on a great wrist shot from the face off circle), and two more by Parker Hodgson.
Next came what the team was here for - the championship game. And as expected, it was a rematch against Flesherton. Another close fought game took place, with another scoreless first period between the two teams. And in the end, this one was almost a carbon copy of the game on Saturday. Parker Hodgson put the puck past the Flesherton goalie on a nice breakaway play, and then Josh Clark added some insurance with a nice tip of an Ethan Emerson point shot. Between the two goals the Flesherton team and parents had thought thy tied the game up, but after a referee conference and the zebras checking and realizing that the puck was underneath netminder Logan White who was on his back in the crease, the goal was not called. Clark's goal went from being insurance to the game winner as Flesherton was able to sneak one past White with their goalie pulled and just seconds to play, but it was too little too late, and the team finished off the game the same as Saturday's with a 2-1 victory.
The boys celebrate a 2-1 finals win