January 25,
2025
Fresh off a decisive, complete team victory over the Kawartha Coyotes,
your Millbrook Stars rode into Fort Erie with a confident stride, looking to
put their mark on the Andy Passero Memorial Tournament.
Millbrook Stars vs Lambeth Lancers
Beginning the tournament with a Friday matinee, the Stars squared off
against the Lambeth Lancers. From the puck drop, the Green-and-White appeared
ready to play. Strong on the forecheck, and spreading the Lancers thin with
crisp passes, the boys took the play to the offensive end early and often.
Forward Owen Verdoch opened the scoring, in what would eventually be the
game winner for the Stars. Verdoch burst in over the blueline and wired a heavy
wrister, cleanly beating the Lancers keeper up high. The Poole, Rose, Verdoch
line was a forechecking problem all game for Lambeth to try to contain.
Emery Warrick followed suit seconds later as the Stars pressed the
attack, and Elijah Dunlop sent a bullet under the bar later in a dominant opening
frame for a 3-0 lead.
The second period saw Warrick and Dunlop both add their second tallies
of the game, propelling Millbrook to a 5-0 advantage after two periods.
Finally, in the third period, Griffin Larmer capped the game with a
marker of his own, taking an excellent dish from Lochlan Pherrill, ultimately
putting the game on ice for a 6-0 final score.
Tender Wynn Jennings picked up the shut-out in this affair and was solid
from start-to-finish. Full marks also go to the defence and back-checking
forwards for their efforts in limiting high danger chances.
Overall, from puck drop to the final buzzer, this was a dominant
performance from the Stars.
Millbrook Stars vs South Huron Sabres
A few hours after the Lambeth Lancers game, the Stars took to the ice
against the highly touted South Huron Sabres.
The match-up itself looked even from the onset. Two teams battling back
and forth in a chippy, spirited affair, in which the referees largely kept
their whistles in their pockets during the first frame. By the end of the
first, the score was 0-0. Goalkeeper Andrew Collins was called upon in the
frame to make important saves to keep the game squared.
The second period was the boys undoing. The Sabres struck for two goals
early on, which clearly unsettled the Stars. Nonetheless, the boys kept
fighting, and forward Lochlan Pherrill put the Stars on the board, taking the
feed from defenceman Liam Carney, and burying the puck into the back of the
net, narrowing the deficit to 2-1. Undeterred, South Huron added three more
markers in the span of three minutes, including a short-handed tally, in what
was a scrambly, chaotic frame.
The third period saw the stars take four minor penalties, effectively
disabling any attempt of mounting a counter-attack. South Huron added one more
for emphasis, and the game ended with a disappointing 6-1 final tally.
Overall, this was a high-energy, physical affair, with a side helping of
frustration. We’d like to have it back, but instead, move on to the next
battle.
Millbrook Stars vs South Grey Spartans
On Saturday, the boys finished their round-robin action with a tilt
against the South Grey Spartans. Although there were multiple mathematical options
as to what needed to happen to move onto the semi-finals, the mandate was
crystal-clear: win and move on to the
semis.
With that in mind, the Stars hit the ice with a chip on their shoulder,
ready for action. It was Griffin Larmer who opened the scoring in this match,
rewarded for a high-pressure shift in which the entire line of Larmer, Pherrill
and Adams buzzed and swarmed the keeper, finally jamming one home.
But the Spartans, clearly game for a toe-to-toe dance, squared the game
with just over a minute left in the first frame, giving them new life. And,
indeed, they kept coming, adding two more in the second period, giving them a
3-1 lead with the momentum heavily shifted to their favour.
The Stars stuck to their game plan, however, and kept pressing the
attack. In particular, the Pherrill, Adams, Larmer line poured the pressure on,
and buried their second group-effort goal of the evening – this time with
Connor Adams hitting the back of the cage, putting the Stars right back into
the game in the dying moments of the second frame.
This goal was the spark needed to push the Stars to the higher belief
that they were, in fact, the superior team on the ice. They pressed the attack
and sought to take the game back. It was the Warrick- Gillespie – Dunlop line
that tied the contest up at three aside, with right-winger Emery Warrick
lighting the lamp early in the third. A few minutes later, defenceman Colton
Harris seized a moment to tee one up from the point – and he made no mistake
sending a high, hard shot passed a heavily screened goalkeeper, giving the
Stars back the lead they once held early in the game.
The Stars showed a tonne of resolve in this game, working hard, and
sacrificing their bodies all over the ice. Forward Connor Adams was helped off
the ice in one instance following a physical play, and defenceman Liam Carney
hobbled to the bench following a shot block on a hard shot. But the Stars
marched on.
Gillespie added the much needed insurance marker to seal the game,
sending his snapshot to the roof of the net, and giving the Stars the 5-3 lead
to seal South Grey’s fate.
When the curtain closed on this affair, the Stars had earned a
hard-fought victory and a birth in the semi-finals to be played later in the
day.
Millbrook Stars vs Campbellford Colts
The semi-finals featured the Stars against the Cambellford Colts – a
team we’ve seen before in the Lindsay tournament. The boys were interested in a
far better outcome this time around.
This one was an all-out, hard-fought battle. Back and forth, physical
play, without a lot of time and space. The buzzer sounded at the end of the
first period with zeroes on the scoreboard.
The second frame was largely similar to the first, but Campbellford broke
the scoreless affair with a single marker, which proved to be the game winner.
This writer has a general policy to avoid any complaining about the refereeing,
but there looked to be two obvious penalties on the scoring play, with multiple
Stars lying on the ice, before Campbellford put the puck in the net. A
head-scratching, frustrating turn of events, to say the least.
Despite a valiant effort, the Stars were unable to break through in the
third, and Campellford ultimately put home an empty-netter to punch their
ticket to the finals.
Overall, this was an excellent effort by the Stars. They had their
chances in front of the Colts keeper but were unable to capitalize. The defence
pairings of Hilton/Carney, Brown/Stinson, and Harris/Harrigan were solid and
heavily tested in this one. And the goalkeeper, Wynn Jennings, made plenty of
excellent saves of his own in this tightly contested affair.
The team played their hearts out in this tournament and had a solid
showing to say the least – lots to be proud of, and oh-so-close to moving onto
the finals.
It was a fantastic week-end in Fort Erie and Niagara Falls. The team
looked like they had an amazing time in the water park (and kudos to the
waterpark staff for allowing them their shenanigans). A lot of mini-stick
hockey was played, arcade time, and team bonding.
Thank-you all for a great tournament and a great time. Until next year…
Go Stars Go.
M. Carney