Nov 01, 2023 | LeAnne Dennis | 520 views
U13 Rep B Undefeated at Milk Tournament
The 2023-2024 hockey season has just begun, and the Lion’s Club Elmvale Coyotes U13 Rep B are already showing signs that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with and will have a very successful season. With very few practices or games under their belt, they set off this past weekend to the Milk tournament in Prince Edward County. This tournament is a fun and competitive experience, and this year did not disappoint. The area and facilities were beautiful. Each player was given a chocolate milk to recharge after each game and some cool swag.
Our first game on Friday was against the local home team the Prince Edward County Kings who proved they were not just going to let us have the win and were very competitive with goals from Carter Phillips, Brody Coram, and Nash McMann, the Coyotes won the game 4-2. Our second game on Friday evening was against another local team, the Loyalist Jets. There was no stopping the Coyotes during this game. They were on fire! With 6 goals in the first period by Coram, McMann, Easton Bradley, Carson Mogridge, and Charlie Morrison the tone was set that we were here to win. Ending this game in a landslide 13-1.
On Saturday our third game in the regular round-robin was against a team we will soon play in our Georgian Bay circle the Parry Sound Shamrocks. This game was an interesting one possibly because each team wanted to prove they were the best in their region. During the first period, Coram again set the tone of the game with a goal only 3 minutes into the game with goals quickly followed by Evan Dziama, Bradley, Phillips, and McMann. Second period, while one of our players took a time out in the box, fast and furious Dakota Vankeuren ices the puck down for Mogridge to pop that puck into the net. Starting the third period comfortably with a 5-goal advantage over the Shamrocks the Coyotes win 9-1 and are headed to Quarterfinals! In our Quarterfinals, the boys played the Loyalist Jets once again. The first period had the parents wondering what was going to happen. The Jets were battling hard but our defense Caleb Lesperance, Ethan Makad-Smith, Sam Dennis and Vankeuren battled hard to keep the puck from coming into our zone ending the first period with no goals on the board. Fast after the first face-off of the second period Mogridge pushes hard and puts one into the net. Then with only 11 seconds left in the second period, Dziama takes off in a breakaway that Jets defenseman couldn’t stop us from adding another goal to the board. During the final period, our boys once again proved they were unstoppable. They all pushed hard with 6 more goals added to the board by Preston Kenney, Bradley, Morrison, McMann and Dziama with some beautiful saves by Everson Fay these boys celebrated their victory and were headed to Semi-Finals.
Sunday was a quiet morning as the boys and parents prepared for the day ahead. This semi’s game was going to be against the Prince Edward County Kings again. The local home team’s stands were full of parents, grandparents and friends cheering on in hopes that the Kings would make it to the playoff game. The Kings were proving they were not just going to give this game away and let the Coyotes dominate. At the end of the first period there was still nothing on the board for either team. Goalie Chad Cardwell is showing his talent with some reach around saves and some puck catches. Coyote parents are in the stands hoping that our team can rally and pull something together to get the win. Start of the second was slow it was not until the period was half over the boys were able to put some goals on the board by Tyler Edgar, Dziama and Mogridge. Into the third, we have two boys in the sin bin when coaches decide to put out Lesperance, Vankeuren and Dziama for the penalty kill. Vankeuren once again ice’s that puck out of our end aiding Lesperance and Dziama to battle their way to a 4th goal. Finally, all our boys are out of the box, and we are able to pop one more into the net. Victory is ours and we are headed to the playoffs 5-0. With only an hour and a half of rest between the semi’s game and the final game the boys are fueled and ready to go.
The team we are up against for the finals, winner of pool A, were coming in undefeated, and were our Georgian Bay rival the Midland Centennials. Their phenomenal goalie was on fire the whole tournament, not letting in any goals the first four games, and only two in the semi game. Our boys were sure this was going to be a battle. First period, puck drops with Aubrey Ireland at the face-off. Ireland with something to prove goes for it and puts one in the net with a beauty goal which helped build the confidence of our boys. With only 2 minutes left in the first period, Kenney got us our second goal. Fans are cheering and excited that the boys are battling hard with only 30 seconds left in the first period Mogridge takes off and puts a third goal on the board. During the second period, Mogridge put two more in the net giving himself a hat trick and Kenney put the 6th goal in the net. With our boys getting tired, third period was a little rough and Midland was able to get two goals on net but that didn’t stop our team from pushing hard and Kenney was able to put a 7th goal in the net giving us a double hat trick. And the Coyotes for the win the tournament!
Each kid on this team has their own strengths and technique and we are once again lucky to have an amazing coaching staff that knows these boys and tailor their plays based on them, which led them to such a successful weekend. This team are not only friends at the rink but off the ice. They are each other's support and stand beside each other for accomplishments but also their shortcomings. They know that there is no “I” in team. They play with heart, and we are looking forward to seeing what the rest of the year brings. 