Rochester Championship for bantam AA

The Bantam boys brought their strength and the Rangers’ team spirit to the Rochester Thanksgiving Classic tournament on November 23-25th. The players were well prepared to face their opponents, two teams from Toronto and two teams from the US.

The first game was against the Mississauga Hornets where the boys came out fast and furious and ended with only one goal for the opponents and seven for the Rangers. The boys maintained their momentum in the second game against the Toronto Aeros and the game ended in a tie (1-1). Game three was against the Depew Saints where the boys dominated the game to win 7 to 0. We moved into first place of the tourney and were matched against the Mississauga Hornets once again for the semi-final game. We saw great passing, effective plays and most of all we saw an energized team having fun playing hockey. It was another win (6-2) and we moved on to the championship game.

The final game against the Toronto Aeros was certainly intense as the score remained tied from the first period to the last few minutes of the third. With one minute 49 seconds left of the game, the Aeros slipped in a short handed goal. The Aeros fans went wild and the Bantam boys’ determination kicked in. We got lucky and a second Aeros player received a penalty. It was 5 on 3 with 29 seconds left in the game. The Coach pulled the goalie, added a forward and the boys set up a practiced play for this exact situation and scored. On to overtime.

Two 5 minute overtime periods were played with no change in the score. The next challenge was a shoot out with the best out of five shots taking the win. It was a shoot out tie when the fifth and last Ranger player made an amazing shot to score the winning goal and the Rangers won the Championship!

At the end of it all, Coach Sean commented on how well executed the plays were in all zones of the ice with the pay-off coming in achieving 24 goals and only giving up 4 goals against. He added that the team has definitely bought into the 5-man offence and 5-man defense system which relies heavily on teammate support, quick puck movement and intense puck pressure.