The Atom LL boys played in their first tournament of the season in Brussels this past weekend. They opened the tournament on Friday night by facing off against a familiar opponent, Lucknow, who they had played earlier in the week. Lucknow opened the scoring late in the first period. Goderich quickly responded with a goal by Owain S who was set-up beautifully by Tyson C. Tyson was extremely excited to have made his first assist in this, his inaugural hockey year. Mitchell R and Jamie P played a strong game and Kyle P was amazing in net holding off numerous charges by Lucnkow with the help of some outstanding defensive work by Lucas S and Tyler P. Although the game ended in a 3 - 1 loss, Goderich showed they had come to play.
Saturday morning arrived early with Goderich facing Wingham in their 2nd game of the tournament. The boys came out strong, pumped up from their excellent play of the night before. It was a tight first period with the game remaining scoreless despite some great offensive attempts by Josh H and. Ryan L broke the deadlock early in the 2nd period with a goal on an assist from Noah C. The boys went ahead 2 - 0 a few minutes later when Owain S scored on a break-away. The boys locked up the win with another goal in the 3rd period scored by Noah C on assists from Owain S and Ryan L. The first win of the season was highlighted by the outstanding defensive efforts of Alex G, Nathan E and Thomas K ,and a shut-out by Noah S, who was rock solid between the pipes.
The boys were very excited upon learning they had made the AB Final and were ready to hit the ice again Saturday afternoon. Once again they would face Lucknow, their 3rd time this week. Early in the game, offensive strength was displayed by Tristan R and Christian P. Despite the best efforts of defensive stand-out Mitchell B, who seemed to be everywhere at once and a late period goal by Noah C, assisted by Owain S, the boys found themselves down 3 - 1 after the second period. Great defensive play at the blue line kept the puck in Lucknow's end most of the 3rd period. The forwards made several drives to the net with Noah C scoring his second of the game on an assist from Owain S, bringing the crowd to their feet. Despite the final 5 - 2 score this team displayed that they are coming together and Lucknow had to admit they were being pressed harder by the Sailors with each subsequent game.