The Canadian Tire Atom Reps finished the season with a
tournament in Alymer. The Kinucks opened the tournament again All-Ontario
Champions Harrow and fought to a 1-1 tie. This may well have been the best game
the atoms have played all year. Chris Coady scored Kincardine’s lone goal
assisted by Ryan Thede. Despite playing defense most the year, Emma Swift made
the switch to left wing seamlessly.
Saturday morning the Kinucks faced off against Beaverton and despite outshooting their opponents 40-5, the Kinucks found themselves tied with just seconds left. “The Riddler” A.KA. Matt Harrison, scored his second goal of the game and the game winner from infront of the net. Jake Colley scored the other Atom goal with assists going to Thede and Austyn MacArthur. Kara Colhoun played her best game of the year on defense shutting down the Beaverton forwards, while Brennan Long won every face-off he took.
Saturday evening Kinucks played league rivals from Bruce Peninsula. Bryce McFadden scored early in the first with an assist to Harrison. Kendon Zettle, who played outstanding all weekend, scored late in the first with an assist from Colhoun. Going up 2-0 into the second, the Atoms looked really good and then…Bruce Pen demonstrated how much they have improved this year and scored two quick goals in the second to tie the game.
The third period was a back and forth battle with the “Garbage Man” Darian Kuz getting robbed on the doorstop by the Bruce Pen goalie. I guess Kuz was out of bag tags! With just three minutes left in the third, Colhoun moved the puck up the wing to Colley who passed it over to Thede, who then found the open Coady in front of the net. Coady snapped home a wrist shot to score the game winner. This passing clearly demonstrated the improvement the Atoms have gained over the course of the year.
With two wins and a tie the atoms found themselves in the Consolation final against Kingsville. The atoms special teams would be put to the test in this game as they face seven penalties against before the first Kingsville penalty was call. Kingsville scored on the power-play in the first despite the solid penalty killing of Kincardine – in particular, Brody Hewitt who threw himself in-front of many shots. “The Riddler” tied the game up in the second with a great pass from Travis Anderson and Colley. With the game tied at one, Kingsville went on a 5 on 3, again, and scored to make the game 2-1. Kincardine then went on the power-play, where Colley passed the puck from the corner out to McFadden at the point who slid it across to Jacob Bishop. Bishop has a great shot and used it well as he scored glove side to tie the game at two’s.
Jamie Brock saved his best game for last making big save after big save. One Kingsville parent actually asked if the goalies’ parents planned on moving south anytime soon! Brock couldn’t do it all, however, and Kingsville scored off the second rebound to put the game away 3-2.
The coaches and parents would like to congratulate the athletes of the Canadian Tire Atom Reps for a great year. They all demonstrated strong commitment and desire to get better as athletes, as a team and as people.