Stratford Irish start season with undefeated record

Stratford Irish #88, Ryan Migliaccio, picks up the puck along his blue line in the home opener game against the Strathroy Jets on Oct. 11

For the Stratford Bentley's Irish head coach and owner, Marco Alexander, the team have one goal in mind for the season ahead. 

"Win it all, repeat. Nothing short," Alexander said.

So far, the Irish are off to a great start to the season. It started with the season opener in Acton on Oct. 4 against the Halton Hills Coyotes, where two power-play goals powered the Irish to a 3-2 win.

Christian Polillo, Matthew Montgomery and Stephen Pierog scored for the Irish. Marek Pavlas got the win in goal for the Irish and earned the game's top star honours with a 33-save performance.  

In the home opener at the Allman Arena on Oct. 11, the Irish faced the Strathroy Jets. It was the rematch of the Western Ontario Super Hockey League final in which the Irish won a thrilling game seven for their second title in four years.

Sullivan Sparkes got the Irish on the board first at the 3:17 mark of the first period. The Jets responded with a goal late in the period to tie the game at one apiece. The Irish retook the lead fifty seconds into the third period on the goal from captain Zach Magwood. 

Strathroy responded a few minutes later to even the game at two, but the late-period goal by Matthew Fuller gave Stratford the eventual game-winner as the home side subdued all efforts from the Jets offence to preserve a 3-2 victory.

Zackery Weir was solid in net with a strong 30-save performance between the pipes for Stratford in the win. Magwood and Thomas Maia led the Irish with two points.

After the game, Magwood was pleased with the effort from the team and the fan support at the arena in the home opener and understands what the goal for the season is.

"It was awesome. I think it was a great first game that we played there. I think we came ready to play, always huge. You can get the win at home to start the season off. We had a good, pretty good fan base out there today, too. That was nice to see as well," Magwood said. 

"I think just coming off a championship, I think that's kind of where our mindsets are at. Anything than that, you know, as I wouldn't say it's a disappointment, but that's kind of our expectation, being the reigning champs here in this league, and hopefully we can do that again."

Weir likes how the team is performing to start the season, including the new players in the revamped roster. 

"It feels good, especially with a new group of guys, lots of new faces," Weir said. "It's good to see that two games in the season, we're already gelling well and playing the hockey that we finished off playing last year." 

Alexander acknowledged that the team is still not at full standard, having played only their second game since winning the championship, but appreciated the effort that ultimately led to the win.

"I think we played very well. I think that, you know, it took a little bit for some of the guys, it was the first time they're on the ice since finishing the finals in April," Alexander said. 

"That Strathroy team is a very good team. We played pretty good, and we held our own and kept chipping away. We ended up scoring the winning goal."

Stratford will be playing on the road next weekend, starting with a trip to Tilbury for a match against the Bluebirds on Oct. 18 and then heading to Six Nations for their first-ever matchup with the Ironmen on Oct. 19.