The Ansell’s
Awards & Specialties Minor Peewee Jr. Stars are the 2019 Boston Pizza Cup
champions.
The Stars opened the tournament with a strong performance against the London Bandits, coming away with a convincing 6-0 score.
Their second game of the opening day pitted the Stars against a strong Welland Tiger team. Before this tournament, the Tigers had only suffered 1 defeat on the season. In a back and forth game that saw a couple lead changes, the Stars and Tigers skated to a 3-3 tie.
The first game of day two saw that Stars face off against league opponent the Burlington Cougars. The Stars saw a much-improved Cougars team, however, were still able to dominate much of the play in the game. The Stars were able to come away with a 4-0 win.
The final round-robin game saw the Stars face their American foes in the St. Claire Shores Saints. This would mark the 3rd time these two teams have faced off this season so far, after meeting twice in the Essex Early Bird tournament.
This was a game that went back and forth, with these two teams being about as evenly matched as you could find. After some tremendous goaltending at both ends of the rink, the teams skated to a 0-0 tie.
With the tie on Saturday night, it set up a semi-final rematch with the Saints on Sunday morning. The Stars came out flying, building a 4-0 lead late into the 2nd period, before the Saints got on the board. But the Stars would have no part of any comeback from the Saints, scoring another goal mid-way through the 3rd so seal the deal on a 5-1 Stars win.
The semi-final win set up a much-anticipated final against their Provincial foes the Owen Sound Jr. Attack. This game was a re-match of last year’s Boston Pizza Cup final, where the Stars staged a huge comeback win, and also a re-match from the Silver Stick final from 2 weeks previous.
The Attack game out strong, going up 1-0 less than 2 minutes into the game. The Stars bounced back with 2 goals less than 2 minutes apart late in the 1st period to take a 2-1 lead. The teams traded opportunities through the 2nd period, but neither were able to solve their opponent’s goaltenders. The Attack were able to tie the game up with 9 minutes left in the third, setting up a sudden-death overtime to decide the game.
But the Stars would not be denied their 3rd consecutive Boston Pizza Cup championship, scoring 43 seconds into the overtime period to capture the title.
The Stars once again battled injury and illness throughout the weekend. Thanks to some good play from AP players being called up, the team was again able to come together for each other.
The Stars now get a bit of a break from tournament play and will concentrate on league play in the AA loop of the Alliance league. The Stars will soon be setting their sights on OMHA Playdowns, and the International Silver Stick Finals in January.
GO STARS GO