Stars Midget A Win Jim Wilson Chevrolet Winter Classic
Submitted By dvandenbroek on Tue 11 12, 13
The St. Thomas Junior Stars Midget A team went 4-1 in this weekends tournament and had an incredible Sunday in the semi's and in the final against two tough opponents to seal the victory.
After a long drive to Orillia and a 10:15pm start time the boys came ready to play. In the first period our guys carried much of the play firing 9 shots at the Orillia goaltender and managed to score on one of them. A good individual effort by Robert Shaw, stole the puck in the offensive zone and made no mistake beating the Orillia goalie. Dozer got the start for the Stars and wished he would have dressed warmer for this one as the home team did not mange a single shot in the first period. The second period Orillia picked up a bit and managed to score 1 goal on a power play where Dozer made the initial save but a rebound snuck by. St. Thomas quickly jumped back into the lead when sniper T.J Turley blasted a shot into the yawning cage from a rebound off the stick of Josh Reda. The Stars added another in the second by Jesse Tottle and finished off the scoring in the 3rd with the final marker from Dane Jacoletti making it a 4-1 final.
Game 2 on Saturday morning against a much tougher opponent from Ajax. The boys got off to a good start grabbing an early lead after some good puck movement that resulted in a goal off a pin point accurate shot by Jesse Tottle. Ajax rebounded right back with a beauty shot of their own to tie the game. Derek Folkard score his first of team leading 6 goals in the tournament to make the lead at the end of one 2-1. That was it for the stars as the Ajax Knights said good night to the Stars scoring 5 unanswered goals in the second. There was no scoring in the 3rd and the final score was 7-2. The boys were hoping to get another shot at these boys before the tournament was over.
Saturday nights game again at 10:15pm (who makes these schedules) the situation was they needed at least a tie to advance. In the first minute of the game on a delayed penalty the Stars responded to the situation with a breakout from our own end that resulted in a goal by Derek Folkard who went on to score the hat trick by time this one was over. 2 minutes into the second period we seemed to have a comfortable lead at 4-0 only to witness a complete collapse in the teams defense and by the end of the second the lead had shrunk to one. The boys regained their 2 goal advantage early in the third when Reda cut in and jammed one in for his first of the game. Cobourg made it close one more time again to get within one only to have Jesse Tottle score his second of the night to secure at least tie. Little to late Cobourg did manage one more in the final seconds to get within one but with time running out the Stars skated away with a 6-5 victory. The semi's was scheduled for Sunday morning and the next team had yet to give up a goal so better defence was going to be key if we are going to win against a team who is stingy in giving up goals.
Already down one defenseman (Matt Thompson) who was injured in the first game of the tournament, big Smitty did not dress for the semi final tilt against the South Muskoka Bears after sustaining an upper body injury the previous night. The Bears struck first when a turnover in our own end on a powerplay resulted in a short handed goal. The Stars fought back and had plenty of chances but it was apparent why this team hasn't given up a goal yet in the tourney. The score remained 1-0 and until the third period when the Bears made it 2-0 on a power play goal. Finally we broke the seal on a powerplay goal of our own on a goal by Derek Folkard who soon after scored another to tie the game. At the end of regulation and the game still tied we went right into a shootout. The Stars persevered scoring on all three tries by Folkard, Tottle and Jacoletti. Greyson who played a solid game in net stop the only one he needed to send the boys to the final for a rematch against the Ajax Knights.
Again starting the game with 3 defensemen in the game against a team who scored 7 goals in the last meeting the boys looked determined to turn the tide on this explosive offence. Nearing the end of the 1st period Robert Shaw took a shot and Derek Smith scored his first of the tourney sliding the loose puck into the back of the net. Both teams played superb defense not allowing either team any penetration into the offensive zones and few opportunities. A chance for the powerplay to give the Stars a 2-0 lead went bad when a shot off a shin pad sent the Ajax player in on a breakaway and scored to tie the game at the end of the second. The score remained tied when a questionable call gave the lethal powerplay of Ajax the 5 on 3 advantage for a full 2 minutes. Solid defence manage to kill off the powerplay and swing the momentum back in St. Thomas's favor. Midway through the third the Stars struck with the go ahead goal and eventual game winner by Jesse Tottle. Hats off to Ryan Vandenbroek, Dane Jacoleti and Jacob Johnson the 3 defensemen who logged a ton of minutes and were solid in holding the Knights limited chances. # 1 star of the game was definitely goalie Greyson Tottle who stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced.
After a Saturday that the boys would rather forget, Sunday was as good as it gets. Congratulations to the coaches and players for a great tournament.