On the weekend the Brock Wild travelled to Norwood for a 2-day
tournament featuring some of the top Novice teams in the Province and came away
winning 2 of 3 games against some of the strongest competition we have seen all
year.
In game 1 the boys took on the Otonabee Wolves. The boys got off to a great start with a goal by Howell just 10 seconds in followed by another by Wilson with just 25 seconds left to win the first period 2-0.
But in the 2nd period, despite badly outplaying the Wolves, the Wolves were able to mount a comeback making the most of the few opportunities they had as they would add 2 goals in the period to tie the game at 2 heading into the 3rd.
In the 3rd despite waves of pressure by the Wild the Wolves goalie kept them in it and they were once again able to take advantage to slip one past Oke with just 5 minutes left to take a 3-2 lead.
But our boys’ perseverance finally paid off just minutes later as Wilson would carry the puck end to end and blast one past the Wolves goalie to tie the game at 3.
Howell then took over adding 2 more late in the period to secure the 5-3 win and finish with the hat trick.
Haecker made some great defensive plays and added an assist while Dewsbury and Benge had some good chances down low.
Oke was solid in net.
Next up was the host Norwood Hornets. Once again the boys came out strong taking an early 2-0 lead on 2 beautiful goals by Howell including a great move on the first reminiscent of the Savardian Spin-O-Rama and a wicked one timer on the 2nd resulting from a nice pass from Benge.
In the 2nd the boys would extend the lead to 3 on a nice tape to tape pass from Oke to Yerema who would bury it for his first of the season!
The Hornets fought back hard with several great chances and finally got one past Mitchell late in the period to end the shut out bid.
The 3rd featured several chances at both ends but both goalies were rock solid as Brock would hang on for the 3-1 victory setting the boys up nicely for a shot at the championship.
On Sunday, the boys played their final round robin game against a powerful Lakefield Blackhawks squad. The boys played very hard but unfortunately found themselves down 4-2 after the first. Giguere had a great period scoring both goals for the Wild while Underwood made several key saves to keep the game close.
In the 2nd the Blackhawks padded their lead with 2 more goals on 2 breakaways that Underwood had no chance to stop, as the boys found themselves down 6-2 heading into the 3rd.
Down but not out, the boys played their best period of hockey of the tournament as they tried to mount the comeback.
Midway through the 3rd Howell got loose on a breakaway but was stopped by the Blackhawks netminder. However, coming hard in on the rebound was Parry who pounced on the rebound and hammered it home for his first career goal! 5 years in the making PARRY SCORES!!!.
Oke would add another a few minutes later on a great wrap around and some excellent second and third efforts to jam it home to narrow the lead to 2. But despite several close chances the boys were just unable to add another. The Blackhawks would add a last minute goal as our boys fell 7-4.
The loss would unfortunately knock us out of the championship game but left all of us very proud of our boys.
Everyone on the team played some of the best hockey we have seen all year. With great defensive plays from Dowswell and Haecker, amazing fore-checking and passing from Bugg, Benge and Dewsbury, great offensive rushes from Wilson, Howell, and Gigeure, 1st time goals for Yerema and Parry and the always incredible work ethic and solid goaltending of Oke, Mitchell and Underwood this team has a lot to be proud of! Great work boys! Keep up the great work into the playoffs!