Sep 17, 2018 | Jeff Luddington | 415 views
Tourney Finalists!
They showed up at the Richmond Hill Mary Parkinson tournament as the dark horse. They left as finalists who came just short of winning it all.
The team had only six returning players and nine players who played MD last year. But what the team lacked in experience and time playing together, they more than made up in desire.
"I'm so proud of this team" coach Luddington said. "I don't think people's expectations of us were very high. But my kids can play and they really feel they have something to prove."
They got off to a great start in game one, beating Oshawa 4-1. However, in game two things started to fall apart, after three defense went down with injuries, and the team fell apart in the third period. Game two ended 5-1 against a Bradford team that was very well coached.
In game three and four, forwards, Sai Gill and Nathan Dunne stepped up to cover for the teams injured defense. The pair played extremely well and it made all the difference in games three and four, as they defeated Markham and Barrie 5-2 and 4-1 respectively.
On to the semi's against a very fast and dangerous TNT team. The first period was controlled by TNT, but goalie Jacob Smith played exceptional and kept the score zero-zero. As the game continued Brampton's play improved. They scored three quick goals and ended up winning the game 3 to 1. The backbreaker was a short-handed wrap around goal by Cristian Luddington.
Next up was Caledon and the finals. This was a game marked by exceptional goal-tending and hard work by both teams. Sarah Urquhart seemed almost unbeatable in the Brampton nets, and her team responded as Gregory McDonald made an exceptional pass to Keavin Elias putting him on a breakaway. Elias scored and the game was 1-0.
The team held on until about half way through the third, but a few team breakdowns and a little puck luck led to Caledon scoring twice to win the game.
All in all, it was a great tournament and a great finals game against Caledon. Thank you Richmond Hill for putting together such a great event!