Jan 04, 2015 | Kevin Dunbar | 1262 views
DRAYTON TOURNEY "B" CHAMPS
The B/B Black Crusaders had an awesome day in Drayton on Saturday. Getting off to a slow start, and being a little short on players, it took a couple of periods for the boys to wake up and get their hockey legs going, but it all worked out in the end.
Game 1 was against the Mildmay Monarchs and after being down 3-0 after the second, the boys dominated the third, but were only able to get one past the goalie to break the shutout, falling 3-1. The lonely goal was scored by Griffin Marshall, unassisted.
Game 2 put us up against the home town Drayton Defenders. With a complete team, and help from a couple AP players, things had to get better. Drayton struck first, early, but the Crusaders bounced back with a couple goals by Kyle Stevenson and Kaleb Roth and took a 2-1 lead going into the second. Justin Kerr and Nick McDonald added assists. Drayton tied the game early in the second, and due to a couple lucky saves by the knob of the Defenders goalie stick, the game remained that way until late in the third. With 1:50 left on the clock Stevenson got his second of the game assisted by Caleb Koch, and the 3-2 win advanced the boys into the "B" final.
The final was against the Cayuga Stars, and once again, the boys fell 1-0, halfway through the first. But, only a minute later, Roth scored from a nearly impossible angle, and tied the game at 1. Assists were by McDonald and Koch. Cayuga struck again in the first, and some re-grouping was needed, going into the second.
Marshall got things started, just 13 seconds into the period, bulging the twine from yet another difficult angle, and the boys realized that every shot on net is a good one. Marshall's goal was assisted by Jacob Josling and Sam Overholt. Just over a minute later, Dawson Dunbar found linemate Brady Graf out front to put the Crusaders ahead by one. This goal was also assisted by Kerr. Only a minute twenty after, the team took command with another goal by Roth from Koch and Stevenson. The boys were starting to get the feeling they could pull this off. Outstanding goaltending by Joel Nesbit, shut the Stars down for the period, and McDonald added a short-handed goal before it was over, assisted by Roth.
The third was a little more relaxed, with the Crusaders in "Cruise Control" mode for most of the period. Stevenson found the back of the net, assisted by Dunbar before the two cousins found themselves in the box together for a short period of time. There was a little scrambling going on, but the boys were able to kill off both penalties. Cayuga got one back with 3:25 left on the clock, but it was too little too late, and the Crusaders went on to celebrate with a 6-3 victory!!!!
It was an amazing day for the team, and the coaches and parents couldn't be more proud. To see every player's number on the game sheet with at least 1 point in the final, shows how this team has come together, and there are plenty of good times ahead!!!!!