Congratulations go out to the players and coaching staff of the Battalion Minor Atom A Team for winning the 3rd Annual Crow's Sports Tournament in Oshawa last Sunday.
The young Battalions got off to a quick start Friday morning by posting a convincing 14 -2 win over the host team Oshawa Generals. The story of the game was Steven McKiel who filled in at right wing for Joshua Boswell after Boswell received a match penalty in the first period for an alleged "hitting from behind" penalty. The questionable call only seamed to fire-up the normally mild mannered McKiel who paced the Battalions with a 4 point performance --- 2 goals and 2 assists. When asked about the questionable penalty after the game, Boswell replied; "Dad does this mean I have to go back to school today." Lucky for the Battalions, his father's answer was "No".
In the evening match, the Battalions battled it out against a very persistent and well disciplined Ajax team. The late game was a grinding affair for the young Battalions who struggled early to find their stride. The Battalions and Knights traded goals early in the game and it seamed that neither team was willing to take the loss. The story of the game was the line of Jacob O'Brien, Ryan Hodder and Jayden Lindo who factored in on all of the scoring. O'Brien paced the Battalions this time by scoring a natural hat-trick to break the jogger-knot and Ryan Hodder chipped in with 2 more goals late in the game as the Battalions ground-out a 5-2 victory over the Ajax Knights.
On Saturday morning the Battalions paced Brantford 99's to a 10-0 victory giving them their first shut-out of the tournament. In spite of receiving 14 minutes in penalties during the game, the Battalions outshot the "Great One's" hometown 32-14. The story of the game this time was Boswell who scored a natural hat-trick on one shift after serving his one game suspension. The time he spent in the stands did not seam to affect his scoring touch. Carter Vandergrient played steady in goal to preserve the shut-out and the victory.
In the semi-final game, Brampton faced a rejuvenated and much improved Oshawa team. This time around, the Battalions played very disciplined hockey (only 4 minutes in penalties) to post a 6-0 victory over the Generals. The story of the game was the level of patience and discipline displayed by all of the players. All three forward lines factored in on the scoring and the defense kept the General's scoring opportunities down to a minimum. When called upon, goaltender Adam Dunn made key saves down the stretch to preserve the victory and his first shut-out of the tournament.
In the final game, the Battalions once again faced the disciplined Ajax team, who made it to the finals by knocking off the first place West London Hawks in their semi-final match up. Facing the giant killer's, the Battalions knew that their opponents were going to come out fast and had to counter with an equally fast start --- and that they did. Brampton scored 3 goals in the first by Austin Filipe, Boswell, and Alex Plebon. In the second period, Michael Mooney added some insurance banging in a pass from Filipe and Christian Mariconda. The Battalions added 3 more unanswered goals in the 3rd period by O'brien, and 2 from Sam Coleman. When it was all said and done the Battalions outscored their opponents 6-1 taking home the 3rd Annual Oshawa Crow's Tournament title and lots of fun filled memories.
