U13 A Boys take home gold at Collingwood Silverstick

The St. Marys Firefighters U13 A Boys St. Marys Rock took the championship banner at the Collingwood Regional Silver Stick Nov. 13-16. Pictured laying on the ice, from left to right, are Matthew McCarty and Luke Savile. Pictured kneeling, from left, are assistant coach Deon Keller, Myles Havens, Gavin Santagapita, Theo Keller, Joey Brown, Attley Ehgoetz and Talon Nov. In the third row, from left, are goalie coach Harper Murrell, Jax Parsons, Nick Simons, Talan Ward, Owen Robertson, Emmett Parkinson, Keaton Ward, Liam Showers, Charles Coppins, Hudson Monteith, assistant coach Jonathan Ward and trainer Jeremy Savile. In the back row, from left, are assistant coach Mark Monteith and head coach Merlin Malinowski.

By Spencer Seymour

The St. Marys Firefighters U13 A Boys St. Marys Rock captured gold at the Collingwood Regional Silver Stick Nov. 13-16.

With the win, the Rock will compete at the International Silver Stick in Michigan in January.

Throughout the tournament, the Rock did well under plenty of pressure and displayed a strong compete level, with head coach Merlin Malinowski highlighting the team’s ability to overcome adversity.

“The boys were tested on the weekend for sure,” Malinowski told the Independent. “We had some close games, which we hadn’t had too many of this year. It was nice to see them face that adversity and overcome it. They didn’t panic and they played well under pressure.”

Malinowski also praised the team’s depth for bringing a well-rounded game up and down the lineup.

“We have three equal lines where you are never nervous to send one out because they’re just so well balanced,” said Malinowski. “We have six really good defencemen who defend extremely well in their own end and move the puck quickly and accurately to the forwards.”

St. Marys faced the Waterloo Wolves in the semi-final, and the Rock quickly got out to an early lead with Charles Coppins scoring five minutes before the end of the first. Waterloo fired back in the middle of the second, but with the clock winding down in the period, St. Marys struck back with captain Keaton Ward restoring the lead for the Rock going into the third period.

The Rock wasn’t just scoring but playing elite defence with strong goaltending to back it up. Different players were showing up at different moments for St. Marys, a theme Malinowski emphasized.

“There were so many moments of different guys at different times stepping up and making outstanding plays. I could list every one of them, they all did it, and there were times where Matthew (McCarthy) made a big blocker save in the finals. Every game, it seemed to be somebody else stepping up and playing an awesome game; everybody played well.”

In the third, the momentum continued as Myles Havens gave the Rock their third goal of the contest, which proved enough as the Rock took down Waterloo 3-2 to advance to the final.

St. Marys faced the Southeast Surge in the gold-medal game, which started off a little shaky for the Rock, which went down 1-0 early in the first period. The Rock had a hard time getting past the Surge’s goaltending, but eventually, they fought back as Nicholas Simons scored to tie the game at one apiece.

From there, the Rock added another goal on the powerplay from Talan Ward as the game turned fully in St. Marys’ favour. Havens scored an insurance goal in the third period, and the Rock took the game by a score of 3-1.

Malinowski praised the team’s composure, positivity and mindset displayed in the final.

“We fell behind, but we had no sense of panic,” Malinowski said. “I thought after the first six or seven minutes that we were the better team and we had the puck most of the time. It was three lines all contributing and playing hard, staying positive and playing as a team out there.

“What was scaring me a bit was the other team’s goaltending, as he was stopping everything. I was wondering if we were ever going to break through on him, but we did with the two goals on the powerplay in the second period. Up until then, I thought it would just be a matter of time until we beat that goalie. It just lifts the whole bench and gives you some momentum, and that’s the biggest thing when you can see you can get one by him. It puts more spring in your step.”

The pressure of being the top-ranked team going into the tournament never caused St. Marys to fold as, like a diamond, the pressure made the team sparkle. Malinowski credited the team for their ability to handle the pressure.

“What I really was impressed by was that they played under that pressure and stayed as a group,” Malinowski said. “They didn’t fragment and go in different directions; they stayed together and stayed positive with one another. That was the big test on the weekend, and we hadn’t faced that. So, for them to play under that pressure in a tournament where everyone was set out to get them as the number-one-ranked team in the province was good to see.”