Sutton Huron Shores Realty Storm Reach Semi-Finals of St. Mary’s Tournament
The Sutton Huron Shores Realty Storm travelled
to St. Mary’s this past weekend to compete in their second tournament of the
year. The Storm played 4 games in 7
hours displaying great hockey in reaching the semi-finals.
Game #1 vs Mt. Brydges
The Storm were excited to play and opened the
day against the Mt. Brydges Cougars. It
was the start of a good day for the Storm who were aggressive on the puck and
controlled much of the game. However the
Cougars net minder proved hard to beat and at the game’s midway point it was
still scoreless.
Hunter Palinsky would eventually break the
deadlock late in the second period, picking up a loose puck and finding the
corner of the net to give the Storm a 1-0 lead.
Chad Lawrence picked up the lone assist.
Mt. Brydges would tie the score early in the third
period and set up an exciting finish. A
penalty to the Storm seconds later created some nervous moments around the Storm
net but goaltender Jack Baerg was up to the task making some big saves to
preserve the tie. Shortly afterwards
Chad Lawrence decided that being shorthanded was no reason to hold back
offensively, and scored two shorthanded goals to give his team a 3-1 lead.
Down the stretch the Cougars pressed hard to get
back in the game, but the sound positioning of defenders Ella Marshall and
Cameron Cumming did not allow the Cougars many good looks at the net. The Cougars would score a goal with 13
seconds remaining to close the gap to 3-2, but that was how the game would end.
Goalie Jack Baerg was voted as player of the
game by the other team.
Game #2 vs St. Mary’s
The Storm’s next opponent was the host St. Mary’s
Red Wings. The Red Wings proved to be a
powerful team and used their home ice advantage to create a quick start,
scoring on the game’s opening shift.
This was the start of a great period for the Red Wings who scored twice
more and led 3-0 after one period.
The Storm would respond with a much better
second period, and defenseman Jason Legge scored a nice end to end goal
assisted by Malachi McKinnon to get his team back in the game. The Red Wings would counter with one of their
own in the period and after 2 periods led 4-1.
The third period was all St. Mary’s as the Red
Wings continued to hem the Storm in their own end and would score five goals in
the period. Lawrence scored for the
Storm with assists going to Charlie Marshall and Sean Moorehead. The game ended with the Red Wings winning
9-2.
The Red Wing coach rewarded Jason Legge with the
player of the game award, as Jason had numerous scoring chances and played a
good game on defense.
Game #3 vs Strathroy
The final round robin game pitted the Storm against
the Strathroy Rockets. A win would send
the Storm into the playoff round and a loss would send them home. The Rockets, facing the same scenario, were
quick out of the gate and had taken a 2-0 lead before the game was three
minutes old.
The Storm however continued to work hard and
were rewarded when Lawrence scored to bring them back within one. However Strathroy was able to score just a
minute later and had a 2 goal lead after one period.
The Storm needing some momentum found it through
an early second period goal off the stick of Ozzie Alpaugh. Ozzie corralled a loose puck in the slot and
fired home a wrist shot which seemed to ignite the Storm. Just two minutes later the Storm struck again
on a Hunter Palinsky shot and the Storm took over the game from there.
Logan Bursey led the Storm on defense making
numerous plays at the opposition blue line to keep the puck in the Rockets zone. This eventually paid off when Charlie
Marshall scored a spectacular backhand goal while falling down and facing away
from the net. Sean Moorehead picked up a
late insurance goal and the Storm skated away with 5-3 victory securing them a
spot in the tournament semi-final.
Ella Marshall picked up two assists in the win,
while Joseph Hodgkins and Jason Legge also chipped in an assist each. Chad Lawrence (who picked up his 50th
goal of the season in the win) was voted as the player of the game by the
Strathroy coaching staff.
Game #4 vs St. Mary’s
The Storm were tasked with playing St. Mary’s
for the second time that day in the semi-final.
Despite the day’s earlier loss to the Red Wings, the Storm stayed
positive and came out determined to create a different result.
The Storm playing their second straight game
without a break showed no signs early of any fatigue skating stride for stride with
the Red Wing players. Both teams
produced good scoring chances in the first period; the Red Wings were able to
take advantage of those chances and turn them into goals, leading 3-0 after one
period.
The second period again provided the fans with
back and forth action, but both goalies stood tall and would not allow a puck
to get past them. The third period saw
more offence as both teams were able to score three times in the period
resulting in a 6-3 victory for St. Mary’s.
Chad Lawrence scored twice for the Storm, and
Malachi McKinnon one timed home a beautiful pass by Jason Legge for the Storm’s
third goal.
Sean Moorehead and Hunter
Palinsky also registered assists.
McKinnon
was voted player of the game by the Red Wing coaches.
Up Next
This coming weekend the Sutton Huron Shores
Realty Storm will play for the league championship against the Saugeen Shores
Storm #4 team. The best of three series
begins on Saturday March 22nd in Southampton at 12:30. Game #2 is set for March 23rd in
Port Elgin at 12:00, and game #3 if needed is set for March 25th at
5:00pm in Port Elgin.