The Clarington Toros Atom AE squad dazzled early but came up
short in the Justin Williams Cobourg AE Tournament this weekend. They performed
well, and showed the rest of the OMHA that they can compete with some of the
best it has to offer.
The first game was against the Oshawa Minor Generals, who the Toros saw in exhibition action a few weeks previous. The game was never in question, as the team jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Thanks to the strong play of the defense (C. Davis and E. Carey both had excellent games, to name a few), the puck was in Oshawa’s end most of the game. Opening the scoring was the strong shooting ability of J. Jessen and the accurate passing of T. Taylor. It was the rookie’s turn next, with N. Harper potting a nice wrister from a sweet L. Guernsey pass. N. Hibbard followed suit with a similar wrist shot assisted by L. Guernsey, who has been showcasing his wheels and selfless play early this season. One more goal by T. Taylor should have been the end of scoring this contest, but Oshawa pushed hard to come back with two quick goals in the 3rd. Thanks to some impressive saves and acrobatic moves by A. Csizmadia, however, Oshawa’s final push was futile, and the game ended with a big Toros win 4-2.
The second game was a late Friday game versus the hometown Northumberland Knighthawks, a team that was expected to match up well versus the Toros based on their performance against Oshawa in previous games. The Toros surprised again though, skating hard and shooting accurate to the tune of a 6-3 romp. The beginning of the game was a very defensive-minded battle, with no score in the first period and a half. Northumberland opened the scoring with a tough shot going high blocker side on D. Baksh, but R. Viegas decided he wasn’t going to let that stay for long. With a nice keep-in on the blue line and a few dangles, he popped his head up and tossed it top cheese to open the scoring for the Toros. This definitely pumped up the crowd and the bench, as soon thereafter, J. Jessen and L. Storey both went up-top on the Northumberland goalie, with helpers coming from G. Antaya and S. Archer. This started the scoring parade, as S. Archer, L. Storey (2), and L. Guernsey all scored within three minutes of each other following the second period end, making the final score a 6-3 win for the Toros. L. Storey, who went bar-down on both of his goals, was reportedly very excited about the idea of going bar-down, only realizing it after the coaches informed him in the dressing room. The defense played exceptionally well this game, with N. Fraser and L. Geniole both registering some nice shots on net and quality backwards skating. J. Ward kept up his rough and rugged type of play with a few key blocked shots on some of Northumberlands’ marquee players, showing his value as a tenacious, defensive-minded defenseman. Look for him to improve drastically as his season rumbles on.
The third game was an early Saturday morning game vs. The Peterborough Nationals (White) team. This is a new team in the OMHA Lakeshore division, so no scouting report for the players on this one. A tough matchup and lack of favorable bounces for the Toros saw them fall behind by four goals, as there seemed to be no answer for the quick, puck-moving players from Peterborough. G. Antaya pushed it to the limit though, ensuring his team would not be shut-out with a nice 3rd-period goal under the glove of the opposing net-minder. T. Taylor put in another late-game digger-type goal, as the Toros were buzzing late. Unfortunately, they ran out of time with a final score of 4-2 for Peterborough. The squad was in agreement that they should have won that game, and vowed to perform well in the eventual re-match with this squad.
The Toros placed first in their division despite the loss, and faced a tough Stouffville Predators team for the Semi-Finals Sunday morning. A very defensive-minded affair, it was evident neither one of these teams wanted to give up the big goal. Unfortunately, a bounce went the way of Stouffville, allowing them to shove in a goal past Baksh for a 1-0 lead in the 2nd period. Baksh played exceptionally well in this game, standing tall and saving tough shots with some quality side-to-side play. This didn’t discourage the Toros, as they came out buzzing in the 3rd period, determined to get the equalizing goal. T. Taylor put one off the post, and J. Jessen was unable to put a nifty backhand under the arm of the Stouffville goaltender. L. Guernsey almost put in a wrap-around attempt, and L. Storey almost picked the corner several times. The whole defensive crew (R. Viegas, C. Davis, N. Fraser, L, Geniole, J. Ward and E. Carey) had some nice shots from the point as well. Unfortunately, the Stouffville goalie played exceptionally well and was able to make some desperation saves. The back-checking of our forwards came into play in this game, with T. Oliver, J. Jessen, L. Guernsey, N. Hibbard, and N. Harper showing off the wheels and grit they’ve been working on in practice. Overall, it was a tough loss for both coaches and players, but it was rumored that Head Coach Tyler was very impressed with the performance of the squad and believes this game was a humbling one that will pay dividends for future big games.
Look for the Toros to be more than ready to face their first regular season opponent, the Belleville Bulls at the end of next week. Tough loss, Toros. You deserved to make it to the finals!