The
Lambeth LL Midgets went for a road trip to
Ridgetown and came back with the
"Mark Woodley" Tournament Championship cup. The team dominated the five tournament games with a total of 27 goals for and 3 goals against.
(Check also the tournament section for some pictures).
Our team first faced the Southpoint 1 squad on Wednesday Dec 28 at 7:00pm, where we started off on the right foot and obtained the first win with a final score of 5-1. Unfortunately, the goal of the opposing team came with less than 15 seconds to go in the game to deny Dale his second shutout, and therefore tie the 3rd period 1-1. This win earned us 8 ½ points of a total of 9 available per game.
First period score Lambeth 1 – Southpoint 0 = 3 points
Second period Lambeth 3 – Southpoint 0 = 3 points
Third period Lambeth 1 – Southpoint 1 = 2 ½ points
The second game against Wallaceburg-1 did not go as well as the team had hoped. This game was played on Thursday morning with Lambeth dominating the ice and popping 50 shots headed for the net, however, Wallaceburg goaltender dominated his space and stopped all but 1 shots. His team helped him by scoring 2 goals on Lambeth’s goalie #1 Marco V. and handing our team its first loss of the season.
First period score Lambeth 1 – Wallaceburg 1 = ½ point
Second period Lambeth 0 – Wallaceburg 1 = 0 points
Third period Lambeth 0 – Wallaceburg 0 = ½ point
The total points earned in the first 2 games would decide who would get the bye for the semi-finals. With 2 wins, Wallaceburg team 1 earned 1st place and a bye to the semifinal game at 8:00pm on Thursday. Lambeth was in a 3-way tie with points for 2nd place 9 ½ but the spot was given to Southpoint 2 as they had more goals for than our team.
At the end of the second game, the coaching staff had a come-to-mind talk with the team to figure out where the path went wrong and the steps required to amend it. As coach Schepens said, “We gave them a nice X-mas present, now let’s go and do this”.
The pep talk definitely worked as it got everybody pumped out and ready to face the tournament host Ridgetown in the quarterfinal game. The match started at 3:00pm on the same day and ended 50 minutes later with a final score of 10-0 for Lambeth. #15 Tyler S. completed a hat trick and 3 more players had a two-goal game. Lambeth net minder #30 Dale A. was not negated his second shut out of the season this time.
The win put our team in the position to avenge the loss against Wallaceburg-1 at the 8:00pm semifinal. With some time to spare in between games, the players and coaching staff headed to a local restaurant for a team dinner. After eating, we all headed to a neighboring bowling alley for some team building where coach Schepens gave us a lecture (mainly to Sharon) on how it’s done (see score below).
After all the entertainment, we went back to the arena to get ready for the game. This time, nobody was going to underestimate the rivals as our team played one of the cleanest games in the season so far. Lambeth played great with beautiful passes and putting bodies in front of the Wallaceburg net. In the end, our team punished Wallaceburg 5-0 while at the same time helped Lambeth’s goaltender #1 Marco V. redeem the morning loss with a shutout. The win gave our team the first ticket to the final to be played at 1:00pm on Friday December 29.
Southpoint-2 faced and defeated their brother team Southpoint-1 on Friday morning to get the remaining ticket to the final match.
Southpoint started strong out-shooting Lambeth in the first few minutes of the game but our players found their rhythm and started taking the puck to the opposing net. The reward came in minute 5 of the first period with a bullet to the corner by #17 Jacob S who was fed a beauty by #11 Wes M. Two more goals came quickly from the hands of #18 Michael C. and #10 Mark B. to finish the first period ahead 3-0.
Southpoint tried to comeback in the second period but their efforts were mitigated when #20 Wes R. fired a slap shot from the point that found its way to the back of the net. The opposing team entered into desperation mode, which cost them several trips to the box and allowed Lambeth to round the score to 6-0 with goals by #11 Wes M. and #14 Tyler H. The game was cut short about a minute and a half when a scuffle in front of Southpoint’s net caused their goaltender to be expelled from the match and sealing the championship for our team. Lambeth goalie #30 Dale A. earned his second shut out in a row.
Congratulations to Lambeth Midget LL on winning the “Mark Woodley” Christmas Classic Hockey Tournament in Ridgetown, Ontario.