Special to the Sydenham Current
The Wallaceburg Novice Rep Lakers had another busy weekend. This time the Novice squad took their skills to the Roy Beechy Memorial Tournament in the infamous town of Tillsonburg, yes you can say it…. ‘my back still aches when I hear that word.’ The tournament was packed with excitement as well as some bizarre moments.
Friday, October 23 – Game 1
The Novice Rep Lakers came out flying in their matinee match up against the Brock Wild. It was a full team effort that saw Nash Jacobs, Adam Trella and Kiigs Shognosh find the back of the net. Trella and Arionna Hopkins also provided assists in this 3-1 victory. Nash Jacobs walked away with the MVP award while Arionna Hopkins earned player of the game.
Saturday, October 24 – Game 2
After a night of team bonding at the hotel, the Novice Rep Lakers had to focus on taking on the tournament hosts. Tillsonburg put up a great fight but found themselves down 3-1 after the first period. There was no doubt that Wallaceburg was on fire as they took to the ice for the second period. That’s when the fire alarm sounded in the Tillsonburg Arena which forced the entire building to evacuate. The players quickly slapped on skate gaurds and were ushered to the front lawn. After nearly 40 minutes of standing in the rain the alarm was silenced and the teams took back to the ice to finish the game. Much to the disappointment of the hometown fans, even wet jerseys and muddy socks couldn’t cool down the hot Wallaceburg squad. The young relentless Lakers put up four more unanswered goals and finished off the smoke show 7-1 (pun intended). Arionna Hopkins led the scoresheet with a hat trick, and both Nash Jacobs and Adam Trella had a pair of goals each. Wingers Hunter Jacobs and Cole Allaer each provided an assist, while Wallaceburg’s defense saw Kai Blanchard contribute to the score with two assists of his own. The strong defensive play of Kiigs Shognosh landed him the MVP award, and Justin Schepens’ hard work secured him as Player of The Game. Although the scoring was high for the Lakers, the real story was written by the defence that controlled the play at both ends of the ice.
Game 3
Wallaceburg’s hot streak continued in their second game of the day, but the Kincardine Kinucks found a way to extinguish the Laker’s flames in the 4-3 loss. The exciting matchup had fans on the edge of their seats, and goaltender Brock Lane sliding post-to-post in a back and forth battle. Nash Jacob scored again, and Adam Trella added a pair of goals including a beauty penalty shot. Trella was awarded the MVP award and Kai Blanchard walked away with the Player of the Game trophy.
Sunday, October 25 – Game 4
Strathroy and Wallaceburg faced off in the semi final match up on Sunday. Brock Lane was peppered with shots all game and continued to impress the crowd with his spectacular saves. However even the excellent goaltending of Lane couldn’t hold off the extremely strong Strathroy team. Wallaceburg faught hard, but ultimately lost the game in the 6-0 defeat. Lane was picked as MVP, and Cole Allaer took home the Player of the Game Award. The entire team played well over the three day tournament and can be proud of their continued improvement.
– Submitted photo: Novice Reps outside Tillsonburg Arena after mid-game evacuation.
