The CrossFit
Belleville Bantams headed to Barrie for the OMHA Championships over the weekend
and were ranked third in the overall rankings. A tall order was ahead if they
were going to be OMHA Gold winners as they would need to knock off the 5th
and 6th ranked teams in Ontario (Whitby Wildcats and Barrie Colts respectfully),
the Devils would also need to beat the top two teams in the SCTA Halton
Hurricanes and the Brampton 45’s along the way.
Game #1 – Quinte Red Devils (4) – Brampton 45’s (1)
On Friday the Red Devils opened up against the Brampton 45’s who were second in the SCTA (South Central AAA) and would play tough against the Devils. The CrossFit Belleville Bantams would open the scoring but Brampton answered right back before the first period ended. The Quinte Red Devils would score the only goal of the second period and would head into the dressing room with the lead into the third. Ethan Taylor was in net for the Bantams and played very well stopping all but one shot he faced. Quinte would score twice more in the third and put the game out of reach.
Goals were scored by Emmet Pierce, Keegan Hunt, Michael Andrews and Daniel Panetta, while assists went to Emmet Pierce(2), Danial Panetta(2), Zach Uens, Michael Andrews and Bailey Matthews
Player of the Game honours went to Daniel Panetta
Game #2 – Quinte Red Devils (5) – Halton Hurricanes (1)
The second game of the OMHA tournament would be against the Halton Hurricanes, the top ranked team and the stingiest defensive teams in the SCTA as they had only given up 38 goals in 36 games in regular season play. The Hurricanes would open the scoring just five minutes into the first period but as this Red Devils team has done so many times all season, they battled back and scored 5 unanswered goals to take home the victory. Brennan Bush was in net and continued his great play inside the blue.
Goals were scored by Derrick Vos, Cameron Supryka, Dalton Bancroft, Nolan Seto and Michael Andrews while assists went to Derrick Vos, Nolan Seto(2), Ryan Loiselle(2) and Isaac Langdon(3)
Player of the Game Honours went to Ryan Loiselle.
Game #3 – Quinte Red Devils (1) – Whitby Wildcats (3)
Saturday would have the Red Devils facing the two top ranked teams back to back as they played the Whitby Wildcats in the first game of the day. Whitby would open the scoring in the first period and would take the lead late into the second period before Quinte answered back with less than two minutes left in the period. The third period was no doubt the worst period these boys have played in a very long time and handed Whitby the victory. Ethan Taylor was in net for the loss.
The loan Goal were scored by Michael Andrews while assists went to Logan White and Cardin Guerin
Player of the Game Honours went to Ethan Taylor.
Game #4 – Quinte Red Devils (3) – Barrie Colts (2)
Both of these teams know each other very well as they recently just concluded a 5 game playoff series where the Devils came back in dramatic fashion to overcome a 2-1 game deficit to win the series 3-2. Some irony here as the Red Devils would repeat this same feat as they trailed the Barrie Colts 2-1 heading into the final period with a winner destined for the Gold Medal game and the loser headed to the Bronze Medal Game. Brennan Bush was in net for Bantams and played extremely well as he back stopped and gave his team time to mount yet another comeback against the Colts. The Red Devils would tie the game up early in the third period and would score with less than three minutes remaining, sending them to the Gold Medal Game on Sunday against the Whitby Wildcats.
Goals were scored by Jake Campbell, Logan White and Michael Andrews while assists went to Emmet Pierce, Daniel Panetta, Dalton Bancroft and Cameron Supryka
Player of the Game Honours went to Emmet Pierce.
OMHA Gold Medal Game
The CrossFit Belleville Bantams would need a good start in order to put Whitby on their heels and allow our teams strong fore-check and defensive skills to take over the game, this did not happen as Whitby scored first on the power play eight minutes into the game. Ethan Taylor would hold the fort as his teammates gathered their legs. Whitby would score early in the second period and would take a commanding 2-0 lead and a lead that would seem insurmountable to most teams but these Bantam boys have #Resilience and won’t quit. Just before the second period would end the Quinte Red Devils would get on the board and would show they weren’t done playing just yet.
The third period would see the Bantams in some penalty trouble again and Whitby would take a 3-1 lead with less than 9 minutes remaining in the game. There were plenty of good opportunities for the Red Devils but the Whitby goaltender played well. With just over 5 minutes remaining the Devils would come within one goal and sent Ethan Taylor to the bench in the remaining 90 seconds. The Devils came close to tying the game up but the Whitby Wildcats would win OMHA Gold.
Goals were scored by Jake Campbell and Michael Andrews while assists went to Derrick Vos, Emmet Pierce, Logan White and Dalton Bancroft
Player of the Game Honours went to Michael Andrews.