Feb 03, 2014 | krichardson | 1079 views
West London Tournament Champs!
Congratulations to the West London Novice MD1 team on their hard-fought and well earned championship victory in the Byron Optimist Cup tournament!
The tournament was an amazing success for the Major Novice MD1 team. They opened the round-robin portion of the tournament with tough 4-0 and 2-0 wins over a couple of tenacious Waterloo teams.
Round-robin game #3 had them matched up against a strong Kensington Valley squad, whom they'd had a history with dating back to last years Tournament. KV was looking for a different result this year, since West defeated them twice last year, including a thrilling overtime championship game to win the 2013 event.
This year it was to be a slightly different story. After West jumped out out to a quick 2-0 lead, KV came back to square the affair in period #2. It was back and forth from there. But with the game tied and less than two minutes remaining, KV broke in to score the eventual game-winner. It was an amazing game to be a part of, with both teams skating hard for the entire contest. Both teams were hoping for a rematch in Sunday's final....but there was business to take care of first.
The Sunday morning semi-final saw a West rematch with the Waterloo Timberwolves. The game was close most of the way, but West broke it open in the third period, skating to a 6-1 final.
KV did their part too, dispatching of the Waterloo Ice Wolves, and setting up a much-anticipated rematch in the final.
And the Championship Final did not disappoint. West jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, only to have Kensington Valley square the contest at 1-1 after the first period. There was amazing goaltending and continued back-and-forth action the entire game. These were two very evenly matched teams. And at the end of regulation, the contest was square at 3-3 - setting up a tense overtime finish. On the opening faceoff of overtime, West stormed into the KV zone and almost ended it in the first 9 seconds, but the KV goaltender made an amazing save to keep the game going. On the same shift, KV turned the puck over in the neutral zone and West took advantage - picking up a loose puck and beating the goaltender with the Championship winning goal!
It was an amazing end to an amazing weekend for the West London Novice MD1 team. They played every game hard, and were rewarded for their work. Kensington Valley is a very strong and classy team - and we were thrilled to have them participate in our Tournament once again.
Great job guys, and congrats on your victory. It was well deserved.