Congratulations to our Marci Cook U15 Champions - Simcoe Warriors Team #1!
A weekend filled with excitement for the Warriors U15 Simcoe Honda team at the Marci Cook Memorial tournament!
The team started off with a 6-1 victory over Caledonia Friday afternoon. With 2 goals from Brady Smith and a strong outing from the defence (Inman and the Rodrigues brothers).
On Saturday the team was facing two strong opponents. First up was the Coldwater Wildcats, a well-rounded team that put up a fierce battle. In the end backed by a stellar goaltender performance from Shrubby and a two-goal game from Ethan Wright, the Warriors came away with a 3-0 victory.
The Saturday afternoon game was an important game for standings moving forward. The South Kent Lightning came to play. A goal by Oliver Grace wouldn’t be enough for Simcoe as the game was tied at one and would require a shootout. Backed by a relentless goalie they took the Warriors to the 5th round of shooters and handed Simcoe the loss. This placed Simcoe Warriors Team 1 2nd after the round robin and to once again face the strong team from Coldwater in the semifinals.
At the semi-finals, it was once again a battle vs the Coldwater Wildcats. Simcoe went up 1-0 midway through the second on a goal by Miguel Martins. The Coldwater team never gave up and netted the equalizer at the 6-minute mark of the 3rd. With just under 4 minutes to play, Nicholas Rodrigues took the puck on a defensive rush and sealed the victory for the Warriors 2-1.
In the finals the Simcoe Honda team was set to face their hometown rivals, the Simcoe Morison Insurance team. As the two teams battled back and forth Simcoe Honda netted a power play goal to even the game at 2, but the Morison Insurance team continued to attack and went back up 3-2 with 3:50 remaining in the game…..but just over a minute later Simcoe Honda brought it back to a 3-3 tie with Jack Rixmann potting the equalizer with 2:37 remaining. After onslaughts from both teams the buzzer sounded and the game would then be sent to 5 minutes of 3 on 3 overtime.
As expected, 3 on 3 brings excitement, with both teams creating their own opportunities. With tired legs on both teams, Rixmann picks a pass from Inman in the neutral zone creating a two on one crossing the blueline. Rixmann made the pass to his line mate Charlie Long and he put it over the goalies shoulder to end the game in dramatic fashion giving Simcoe Honda the win!
Hats off to the Morison Insurance team, who always battle hard and never give up!
Along with the championship win the Honda teams goalie Campbell Shrubsole was awarded the goalie of the tournament. The entire team played a hard tournament never backing down. After placing 2nd in the previous two tournaments of the year, a victory was well deserved.
Special thanks to all of the people involved in making The Marci Cook Memorial Tournament a success. The hard work and long hours don’t go unnoticed. Great tournaments like this don’t happen without you!!! Thank you!