U11 A Boys win gold in Rock Cup tournament

The Social Thirty-One U11 A Boys St. Marys Rock earned the gold medal at the Rock Cup tournament Feb. 6-8. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Elliott Maddock and Ryan Pickel. In the second row, from left, are Kai Sherwood, Everett Crummer, Lincoln Jennings, Nico Thompson, Bode Keller and Jack Anderson. In the third row, from left, are Owen Simons, Rhett Parkinson, Logan Masselis, Ashton Ropp, Tucker Posthumus, Myles Avey and Kyle Johnson. In the fourth row, from left, are Jaden Ropp, Mitch Watt, Mark Jennings, Scott Crummer and Mike Johnson.

By Spencer Seymour

The Social Thirty-One U11 A Boys St. Marys Rock added another prize to their trophy case by winning gold at the Rock Cup tournament in St. Marys Feb. 6-8.

Though their performances weren’t perfect throughout the tournament, head coach Mike Johnson praised the group for riding the emotional waves and eventually finding their way to the top prize.

“It’s impressive for a group of 10-year-old kids to handle those emotional ups and downs and find that rallying cry to come together,” said Johnson. “There was a team meeting before the last round-robin game and the kids all shared important parts of their season with each other, and they just gelled coming out of that meeting and they were picking each other up, and it was just a tidal wave of positive emotion going out onto the ice that night, and it carried for the rest of the weekend.”

Johnson added the ability to handle the ups and downs was tested better at this tournament than at their previous tournament showings.

“It’s been fun watching them perform in the big moments, learn what it’s like to overcome those pre-game jitters and those tense feelings when games get tight. They are learning a lot about themselves has been great. I really saw that in the finals of this tournament.

“There was a calmness about them,” Johnson continued. “They knew what they had to do and they were more ready to perform out there and a little bit less jittery than we were in our previous tournament. I think they’re learning how to handle those big moments and just focus themselves on the details they need to do to be their best.”

To get to the gold medal game, the Rock went up against a familiar foe from throughout their regular season, the Elgin-Thames 73’s, who the Rock have had numerous quality battles with all year. After falling behind 1-0 in the opening period, St. Marys tied the game midway through the second with a goal by Lincoln Jennings. In the final minute of the second, the 73’s retook a one-goal lead, which they held onto until midway through the third when Everett Crummer potted the game-tying goal.

The game then went into overtime, where Ashton Ropp netted the game-winner.

Nico Thompson earned assists on all three goals, while Ryan Pickel earned the win in goal. Johnson noted, among the strong efforts from throughout his squad, Thompson and Pickel were especially strong.

“It was a really impressive effort from the entire team,” Johnson said of the semi-final. “Ryan (Pickel) made the saves we needed to keep the game in control. Nico (Thompson) played the best game I’ve seen him play. He just absolutely was in total control out there and was a huge part of that win. He came with a level of energy and compete level that just outmatched anything he’s done in the past.

“He’s a fast, talented hockey player, and even though he doesn’t have size as his advantage, he finds ways to battle. He showed everyone what he’s made of and he picked the kids up and made some great offensive plays, some great defensive plays and really was the heartbeat that drove the game for us that game.”

The Rock almost didn’t make it to the semis, but according to Johnson, one of the team’s best performances of the season at a crucial time in the round-robin allowed them to get their game back on track and make it to the semi-final.

“We were really disappointed in our effort on Friday,” Johnson said. “We played two of our worst games of the year, and we’ve been slumping a little bit coming in, and battling some illness and injury. We just weren’t firing on all cylinders, and it got even worse on Friday. We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to get ourselves to the semi-final. We had a win-and-in scenario in our final round-robin game, and the kids came in and played one of their best games of the year in that game against Southeast Surge, and that was the momentum builder we needed.”

The Rock then met the Stratford Warriors in the championship contest, and initially, it appeared St. Marys was on track to cruise to a decisive victory, earning a 5-0 lead with just under nine minutes to go in the second period, including with a pair of goals by Jennings, as well as individual goals by Rhett Parkinson, Kyle Johnson and Bode Keller.

However, the Warriors began clawing back, first by scoring with just under six and a half minutes left in the second, followed by three straight goals in under a minute to suddenly make it a one-goal game.

The bench boss noted the team’s execution of their gameplan was strong, especially early on.

“We gave them a little key to focus on, which was to use our speed and keep pucks behind their defence, and they bought into that and executed it really well and got control of the game early,” Mike Johnson said. “We got a little jittery and the game tightened up on us, but our kids pulled through when they needed to, so that was great.”

The white-knuckle third period finally saw the Rock regain control of the game when Thompson fired home a clutch goal to give St. Marys a two-goal lead, and according to Mike Johnson, give the rest of the Rock a chance to settle down, and eventually extend their lead to 8-4 with late goals by Parkinson and Kai Sherwood.

“Everybody got super excited, but it also gave everybody a little bit of a chance to catch their breath. Even just the time we had in the setup after the goal from the celebration to the faceoff gave us a chance to have a quick little reset, and a quick little message to the kids on the bench to try and get back out and focus on staying on the defensive side of the puck.”

The team also had a special moment during the tournament when Jeff Bradley, head coach of the St. Marys Lincolns, surprised the team in the dressing room and read the starting lineup before one of their games.