Battalion U13B claims silver at East Gwillimbury Spring Fling

Members of the U13B Battalions (in no particular order) include Logan Baldwin, Colton Boakes, Connor Brittain, Everett Clement, Dominic Crone, Miles Glowala, Grayson Grosvold, Lucas Harrison, Bennett Inberg, Grayson Kristman, Bryson Lee, Andrew Louch, Zachary Nieman, Easton Pizzey, Taylor Plant, Nolan Steward, and Bentley Vieira. 

Casandra Turnbull

Managing Editor

The Brant Battalion U13B squad delivered a strong showing at the East Gwillimbury Spring Fling, held April 10–12, advancing to the championship game after an impressive round robin and playoff run.

Brant opened the tournament with a statement win, edging the Brock Wild 3-2. Logan Baldwin led the offence with two goals, assisted by Dominic Crone and Bentley Vieira, while Zachary Nieman added the third, unassisted.

Head coach Ryan Louch pointed to that opening victory as a turning point for the team. Brock entered the tournament as heavy favourites, ranked 20th in Ontario and coming off a strong OMHA run. “We were motivated to prove a point,” said Louch. “So, when we took them down that really fuelled them.”

Connor Brittain got the start in net and played a key role in the win. “He kept us in that game. He made big saves that pumped our team up,” said Louch.

Brant carried that momentum into a 3-1 win over the Parry Sound Shamrocks. Vieira opened the scoring, assisted by Baldwin, while Nieman added another, assisted by Glowala, before Vieira netted his second of the game, again assisted by Baldwin.

Lucas Harrison earned the win between the pipes, avenging an earlier loss to Parry Sound this season. “We went to Parry Sound and played in their tournament, and they beat us up pretty bad,” said coach Ryan Louch. “So, we wanted revenge. Lucas came out with huge glove saves and pad saves and that gave the boys a chance to fight back.”

In a tightly contested third game, Brant secured a 2-1 victory over Mooretown, with goals from Glowala and Crone, both unassisted.

The Battalion met the Mooretown Jr. Flags again in the semifinals, this time delivering a dominant 6-2 performance. Baldwin opened the scoring, assisted by Vieira, followed by a goal from Colton Boakes, assisted by Nieman. Mooretown responded to tie the game 2-2 after the first period.

Baldwin and Vieira connected once more for what would stand as the game-winner. Brant pulled away in the third period with additional goals from Crone (unassisted), Vieira (assisted by Everett Clement), and Glowala (assisted by Bennett Inberg).

In the championship game, Brant faced Brock Wild for a second time. Despite a hard-fought effort, Brock claimed a 3-0 victory to take the title.

Reflecting on the weekend, Louch credited the team’s effort and growth. “They wanted to have a good tournament. We got beat out by heavy competition in previous tournaments this season. We’ve played some really hard teams since December – after being placed in A division of Southern Counties,” he said. 

Goaltenders Connor Brittain and Lucas Harrison shared duties throughout the tournament, providing a steady presence in net. “Both of them did an amazing job,” said Louch. Louch also praised the team’s overall play at both ends of the ice. “All the forwards moved the puck, using their D on the point and they knew where each other were.”

“Defense kept pushing play to the outside when it was coming into our zone. Pushing the play forward with good outlet passes to forwards to get them into the neutral zone.”