34th Annual Clinton Optimist Bantam Champions!, News, Bantam Rep, U15, 2013-2014 (Goderich Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2013-2014 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Dec 03, 2013 | Jude Fritzley | 1567 views
34th Annual Clinton Optimist Bantam Champions!
The L.H. Jenkins Bantam Rep squad participated in the 34th Annual Clinton Optimist Bantam tournament which took place from November 29 - December 2nd. With an 10 team format, getting to the final meant winning their own division, playing the 1st place team from the next division and then facing the 1st place team from the only 4 team division for the Championship.

The Sailor's faced St. Mary's in their first game on Saturday morning. Facing a team which has had some good tournament success this season, the boy's knew they would have to bring their "A" game to get the tourney started off on the right foot. From the drop of the puck, the team came out hard and executed good puck control. After going down 1-0 in the 1st, the team bounced back for a 4-1 victory on goals by Chad Treble (2), Jared Cox and Nathan Helesic. Cody Treble had a big game with 4 assists. On Saturday evening, Simcoe was the Sailor's next opponent. Although heavily outshooting their opposition, the team could only beat a "red hot" Simcoe goaltender for 1 goal by Chad Treble. Regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw which put the Sailor's thru to the semi-finals on Sunday am.
The Tavistock Royals were up next after defeating both South Huron and Mitchell in their grouping. Goderich came out flying in this one, exhibiting their absolute best puck movement and positional play so far this year. The final score ended up 6-0 on goals by Chris Govier (2), Jared Cox (2), and Cody Treble (2). Bayden Parent added 2 assists and Noah Smith picked up the shutout.
This setup a Championship matchup with the hometown BCH Ice Dogs who earned their way to the final with victories over Lambton Shores and Hanover. As expected, the Ice Dogs came out flying, but the Sailor's were able to hold them off. Goderich then applied some of their own pressure, but simply could not beat tournament MVP goalie Alex Metzger. Finally, BCH beat Smith for their 1st goal with 5 minutes remaining in the second to take a 1-0 lead. This lead lasted until the 9:51 mark of the 3rd when Mitchell Fisher found a way to get the puck behind Metzger. BCH took the lead once again with only 5 minutes remaining in the game. However, the boys dug deep and Jared Cox tied the game at 2's on a setup from Nathan Helesic. The game then headed into a 10 minute sudden death OT period, where Goderich seemed "snake bitten" after hitting 2 goal posts. BCH then had a clear cut breakaway as time was winding down, only to be stoned by Noah Smith. Finally, in one of the most exciting finishes you could see in any hockey, Nathan Helesic absolutely wired the winner by Metzger with only 34 seconds remaining!
The celebration began for a group of young men who left absolutely nothing on the ice the entire weekend!

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