The Verspeeten Cartage Peewee Express traveled to the
Golden Puck tournament in Port Colborne over the past weekend. The boys competed hard and made it to the
semi-finals but were unable to bring home the trophy.
In their first game Friday, the Express took on Grimsby. The score sheet remained blank through the first period, but the Express took the lead on the first shift of the second as Parker Huitema ripped a wrist shot past the Grimsby goaltender after taking a pass from Emmitt Robinson. Grimsby even the scored a few minutes later but the Express surged back in front as Robinson netted his first, assisted by Huitema and Keagan Clifford. Grimsby immediately tied the game again before the end of the second. Robinson scored his second of the game unassisted as the Express took the lead again early in the third. The action continued up and down the ice and with Grimsby’s goalie on the bench in the last minute, Cameron White shot the puck from his own blue line into the open net. Grimsby desperate for a tie kept the goalie out and Robinson deposited another into the open cage to make the final 5-2 for the Express.
In their second game Friday, the Verspeeten boys took on the Pelham Panthers. The Express scored early and often en route to a dominant 7-0 win. Recording points were Robinson with 4 goals and 1 assist, Aaron Lahey with 2 goals, Clifford with one goal and one assist, White with 4 assists, Huitema with 2 assists, Jacob MacArthur, Alex Georgiou, Cameron Holland, and Ethan Barrett with one assist. Every skater recorded at least one point and goalie Hayden White got the shutout.
Heading into Saturday night’s game against the Cayuga Stars the boys were guaranteed a first place finish in their pool but they wanted to continue to build momentum for Sunday’s play-off round. Despite being a little sloppy they came away with a 5-2 win. Georgiou recorded the only goal of the opening period assisted by Lahey. To open the second period, Clifford banged in a rebound off Huitema’s hard wrister. Robinson also drew an assist on the play. Later that shift Robinson extended the lead to 3 on an unassisted goal. White then netted one to extend the lead to 4. Cayuga refused to quit and scored early in the third before Robinson scored again to return the lead to 4. Cayuga kept coming but could only muster one more goal to make the final 5-2 and send the Verspeeten Express to the quarter-finals Sunday morning.
The Mariposa Lightning awaited the Express in the quarter-finals. In a scheduling quirk, the random draw for quarter-final opponents made before the tournament started pitted the 2 top teams against each other. The Ingersoll boys knew they faced a tough test as Mariposa had yet to give up a goal in the tournament. That is until Cameron White opened the scoring less than 2 minutes into the game on a hard wrist shot from the slot. Assists on White’s goal went to Lahey and Georgiou. The game remained 1-0 until the last minute of the first when Robinson scored short-handed. Robinson netted the only goal of the second to make the score 3-0 in favour of our hometown boys heading to the third period. The Lightning continued to battle hard and manage two goals early in the third. Hayden White stood tall in the Express net and turned away shot after shot as the Express hung on for the 3-2 win and advanced to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals the Express faced a tough Elmvale Coyotes. Elmvale opened the scoring in the first minute, shocking the Express. This was the first time the boys had fallen behind all tournament. Cameron White scored as his shot from the blue line deflected in off a defender in front midway through the first to tie the game at 1. The teams traded scoring opportunities and breakaways but neither could find the net through regulation time. In double overtime, Elmvale drew a tripping penalty which resulted in a penalty shot. Unfortunately for the Express the Coyote player managed to squeak the puck past goalie Hayden White to end the game in a 2-1 win for Elmvale. While the outcome wasn’t what everyone was looking for, the boys competed hard and represented themselves and their town very well.
The Verspeeten boys remain busy this week with 4 games to close out their Intertown playoffs, hosting Tillsonburg twice, hosting Simcoe and traveling to Delhi.