From the 2nd to the 5th of December 2010, the Novice Reps took their talents to Centre Wellington(Fergus/Elora) to take part in an “A” Level tournament.
The Rams first game was against the Kitchener Rangers. Mount Forest came out fast, putting pressure on their opponent. The Reps finally broke the scoreless tie with Luke Eurig wristing one past the Rangers netminder, drawing the assists were Brody Leblanc and William Black.
The second period saw Kitchener tie it up, Gavyn Stevenson quickly responded for the Rams – taking a pass from Black and making no mistake, regained the slim one goal lead. The Kitchener side kept skating and tied it up again 2-2 before the 2nd period ended.
In the third the Reps peppered the Ranger goalie with shots. At the 8:07 mark of the final period – the hard work of Owen Troyer, Stevenson and Black paid off with Black stuffing the puck past the Kitchener netminder – in a goal mouth scramble putting the Rams up 3-2. They would hang on from there for the win.
Next up for the Rams was the Erin/Hillsburgh Devils. Mount Forest started slow against the Devils with a scoreless first – Brody Leblanc got things going for the Reps taking a pass from Evan Dewar, walking in over the blue line and ripping a wrist shot in off the post. The Devils came back and tied it but Eurig re-established the lead once again with an end to end rush finished with a deke. Black followed with a goal of his own making it 3-1 with a hard wrist shot low, stick side – assisted by Stevenson.
In the third period Erin/Hillsburgh got back within one at 3-2. The Reps’ Owen Troyer replied as he found the back of the net making it 4-2. With just minutes to play Black fought off two Devil defenders behind the Erin/Hillsburgh net and made a pinpoint pass to Eurig who finished the play off – wristing it past the goalie finishing the game – Rams 5 – Erin/Hillsburgh 2.
The 3rd game saw the Mount Forest boys take on the Centre Wellington Fusion.
The Rams took the play to the hosts and in the middle of the first, Gavyn Stevenson put the Reps on the board when he slid home a rebound – assists going to Black and Troyer. Centre Wellington replied tying the game 1-1, only to have Brody Leblanc and the Rams come right back with Leblanc hammering a shot past the Fusion goalie taking back the lead 2-1. Mount Forest kept the pressure on the entire game with relentless forechecking by forwards - Patrick Brown, Dewar, Leblanc, Stevenson, Troyer and Black and decisive puck movement by defensemen – Brayden Darroch, Jake Kleinstuber, Owen Moyer and Eurig. The Reps hit a post and a crossbar but in the end it did not matter as goaltender Jacksen MacKenzie shut the door. Mount Forest pushed their record to 3 and 0 in the tournament with a 2-1 victory.
That win took the Rams to the semi-finals where they faced the Hespler Shamrocks.
Playing with a lot of confidence the Rams smothered the Shamrocks from the drop of the puck. Black started the scoring with two goals less than two minutes apart – helpers going to Troyer and Moyer. Eurig then found the back of the net from Kleinstuber. With the score 3-0 going into the second Mount Forest didn’t take their foot off the pedal – Black completed the hat trick assisted by Troyer – Eurig then got his second from the point with Black and Darroch drawing the assists. Black continued his point production with two more goals pushing his total to 5 goals for the game!
In the third period it was more of the same from the Reps with Brody Leblanc scoring from Dewar and Moyer – followed by a nice individual effort by Jake Kleinstuber unassisted. Dewar then finished off the scoring from Eurig. The final score was 10-1 Rams – giving them a spot in the finals against the Centre Wellington Fusion.
In the Championship game Mount Forest came out with a lot of energy. The boys as they had done all tournament, scored first with Stevenson leading the way with a nice shot – assisted by Kleinstuber. The Rams stretched the margin to 2-0 as Black again bulged the twine from Stevenson and Troyer.
The second period saw Mount Forest with the lion’s share of the play in the Fusion end, but they were unable to add to their lead.
The Rams entered the 3rd period with a two goal lead. Troyer then fed Black who notched his second of the game putting the Reps up 3-0. The boys gave up two quick goals to Centre Wellington and then a third tying the game with under three minutes to play.
Unfortunately, lady luck turned her head to the Centre Wellington side as a wrist shot or pinball from one of the Fusion players bounced in putting the Rams behind for the first time in the tournament 4-3.
True to the boys spirit, with the goalie pulled, the Reps put tremendous pressure on Center Wellington but were unable to find the back of the net. The game ended with a score of 4-3. Although Center Wellington and Mount Forest ended with identical records of 4-1, the Rams came away with the silver.
Coaches, Parents, Grandparents and Friends are all very proud of you boys!
Go Rams Go!!