The Tiverton Sports Arena witnessed a day of exciting Peewee hockey on Sunday,
December 8, hosting the Wade Simmons Memorial Tournament. Facing many of
their local league rivals, the Kincardine Kinucks Peewee LL1 team saved some of
their best hockey of the year for the three games hotly contested over the
course of the day. Each period was a battle, and as the dust settled at the end
of the afternoon, the top three teams were separated by mere fractions of a
point in the race for the Championship.
Playing their first game of the morning only twelve hours after a gruelling league game the night before, Kincardine faced off against a tenacious Tiverton side that clearly came prepared to test the tired legs of their opponents. An early goal for the Kinucks from the stick of Josh Catelo was quickly countered by the solid breakout and stretch passing of Tiverton, who struck for two of their own. A third-period marker by Brody Hewitt deadlocked the game at two apiece, which is how things ended.
Kincardine’s second game saw them face their league opponents from the night before, a Ripley side hungry for revenge after their earlier 5-2 defeat. By this point, however, the Kinucks had hit their stride both offensively and defensively, and Ripley were never allowed to set up in the Kincardine zone. After an opening goal by Liam Fitzgerald on a nifty redirect in the slot, two quality strikes by Jackson Alers and Adesh Sandhu were more than enough to close the deal. Stellar Kinucks goaltending by Aiden McKay and Nathan Williams snuffed out each of the Ripley opportunities and secured the shutout, with Kincardine taking the second game by a 3-0 score.
Now in the running for the tournament title after a win and tie, the Kinucks came out for their third and final game with only one thing on their mind: a complete victory over TCDMHA and a chance to hoist the hardware. An early goal by Liam Fitzgerald opened the scoring and set the tone; by the time the dust had settled at the end of the second period, Kincardine had struck six more times, with goals from Josh Catelo (2), Adesh Sandhu, Brody Hewitt, Keno Tiu and Trent Pletch. Again, shutdown defense and brick wall goaltending for the black and orange closed the door, with Kincardine on the right end of a 7-2 scoreline.
With points being awarded for game and period wins rather than via a round-robin format, calculations were now in the hands of the tourney organizers. After some anxious moments and double-checking of figures, incredibly, the top three teams were separated by less than a single point. The Kincardine Peewee LL1 Kinucks had taken second place with 10.5 points, only bettered by the 10.75 points of tournament winner Saugeen Shores, and only a quarter of a point ahead of third-place finisher and host club, Tiverton. A thrilling finish to an exciting day of play, and a worthy result for the hard work put in by the Wade Simmons Memorial Tournament organizers – thank you for a great day of hockey!
By Travis Fitzgerald