The Lambton Jr. Sting Minor Atoms went to work this weekend at the London Jr. Knights Earlybird tournament and came home with some hardware
for their efforts.
After dropping a 6-0 game to the powerful London Jr. Knights to start the tournament, the boys knew they would have to pull up their socks for the remainder of the tournament.
In Game 2 the Minor Atoms went up against the North Central Predators and after a close two periods the Jr. Sting opened up with five goals in the 3rd to close out the day with a convincing 8-0 win.
Game 3 was a must win to help secure an appearance on Sunday facing the Chatham-Kent Cyclones; it was a task the boy were up too. Going into the 3rd the Jr. Sting were up by one and held off a push by the cyclones, taking the game 6-4.
Game 4 was ‘win and your in” and the boys took it too the North York Rangers. The Rangers battled for two periods and kept it close. Going into the 3rd with 1-0 lead the Jr. Sting erupted with four goals to add to the lead securing a berth in the semi finals with a 5-0 win.
The cross over in the semi final saw the Lambton Jr. Sting going up against the 1st place Huron-Perth Lakers from the Green division. A scoreless first was on the agenda as the teams traded opportunities; it wasn’t until the end of the 2nd period when the Sting found the back of the net. The Lakers didn’t back down and took the lead with 3:21 left to go in the 3rd period. The boys regrouped, and after a time out, tied it up at 2 a piece with a power play goal with 1:21 left and took the game to over time. Half way through the first "4 on 4" O.T period the puck found it’s way to the back of the net for the win to advance to the finals.
The final game of the tourney was right back to square one as the Jr. Sting went to battle against the London Jr. Knights for a second time this weekend. Both teams came to play and London took the lead in the first. Lambton was all over the knights in the 2nd and were rewarded with a short-handed goal to tie up the game. The Knights scored a late 3rd period goal with 2:46 left on the clock. The Lambton Sting pushed back and had a couple of chances but time was not on their side. The knights held on to win 2-1.
The boys played with grit and determination through to the end of the tournament and they should be proud of what they have accomplished. The coaching staff has a smile on their face knowing that the TEAM concept has started to show with the play on the ice.
A number of players ended up on the score sheet this weekend, but in the end it was the TEAM effort that made it to the finals. TEAM FIRST, CONGRATULATIONS BOYS!!!!!!!!! Job Well Done!