The FCI Windows Minor Atom AA Petes fell short
this weekend on their journey to a berth in the Silver Stick Finals. The Petes
came out flying but were snake bitten in their first 2 games vs West Hill and
Don Mills. They had numerous opportunities but just couldn't get anything
going.
"We've had a few lineup changes, so we were searching for some chemistry" (Head Coach Mike Farrugia). Chemistry they eventually found in game 3 vs the mighty Gloucester Rangers. The Rangers, who handed the Petes their first loss of the season last year in Ottawa, were looking to be victorious once again. This time the Petes were ready and fended off a fast start by the Rangers and dominated the 2nd and 3rd periods. "I've never witnessed our team show up as prepared as they did. We managed to find perfect chemistry and this was arguably one of our best games.” (Farrugia)
"Our boys looked like they just clicked and I think we're finally seeing all the hard work culminate in this game.” (Faulkner) The Petes, who locked up 1st place in pool B, still had to face Kingston in the 4th Round Robin game. The Petes kept rolling and put in a complete effort to win 6-0. Sunday morning was a shot at the championship but they had the Barrie Colts standing in the way and looking for a berth in the finals themselves.
The Petes were challenged to the extreme as the Colts played the Petes very tough and took away a lot of time and space. "Our boys have never been exposed to such tight checking. This Colts team is extremely well coached and has a work ethic like we've never played against" (Farrugia) The Petes came away with a 2-0 lead and were elated to put that win behind them. "After the game, I went in the room and a lot of the kids had their heads down and were breathing pretty heavy. You could tell they were given a fight by this Colts squad" (Faulkner)
The Petes had a rematch with the Gloucester Rangers in the final and everyone knew they weren't happy with the round robin upset. The Rangers have been rolling lately beating the Kanata Blazers, a top 10 Ontario AAA team, who had just won the Barrie AAA tournament a few weeks back. The Petes knew the Rangers had more and they weren't afraid to show it. The Rangers came out hard and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period. The second period was no different as the Petes found themselves down 5-1 going into the 3rd. "I called a timeout, made a goalie switch, juggled some lines but to no success; our kids were tired" (Farrugia) Steve Boughton commented," I think the Barrie game might have took a little out of us as that was a hard fought. The coaching staff came up with a new plan” they were going into the 3rd to play 3-5 minute periods and try to win every period. This plan got the boys’ attention as they came out and scored 2 in the first 3 minutes and owned the play. The Petes found themselves down 5-3 and with the goalie out, Drew Calderwood fired one under the bar and gave the Petes hope with 20 seconds left. The Petes gave one final push but couldn't get a final shot off and fell to the deserving champion Rangers. "I'm so proud of our boys! We're in a great place and all the boys are going hard for each other" (Farrugia). The Petes are in action this weekend with back to back road games.
Scoring/stats.
Game 1 - vs West Hill ranked #12
Petes 2-0
Goals - Charlie Mundell, Nole Faulkner
Assists - Cohen Bidgood, Kaydn Farrugia
SO/Win - Nick Fournier
Game 2 - vs Don Mills Flyers ranked #49
Petes 2-0
Goals - Reed Chamberlain, Wil McFadden
Assists - McFadden, Chamberlain, Bidgood, Nathan McHattie
SO/Win - Landon Smelt
Game 3 vs Gloucester Rangers ranked #23 AAA
Petes 5-3
Goals - Bidgood 3, Calderwood, McFadden
Assists - Calderwood 2, Farrugia 2, Dawson Corfe 2, McFadden, Owen Leahy, Ethan Lacey
Win - Nick Fournier
Game 4 vs Kingston ranked # 30
Petes 6-0
Goals - McFadden, Faulkner, Bidgood, Farrugia, Calderwood, Chayse Scott
Assists - Farrugia 2, Bidgood 2, Chamberlain 2, Calderwood, Faulkner, Lucas Tataryn
Win/So - Landon Smelt
Semi Final Vs Barrie Ranked #14
Petes 2-0
Goals - McFadden, Bidgood
Assists - Scott, Brayden Boughton, McFadden
Win/So - Nick Fournier
Final vs Gloucester Rangers #23 AAA
Gloucester 5-4
Goals - Bidgood 2, McFadden, Calderwood
Assists - Chamberlain 2, McFadden Leahy, Farrugia, Bidgood, Calderwood, Corfe
Loss - Landon Smelt.