U18 Warriors open postseason against London

The Stratford U18 AA Warriors began their postseason play as they faced the London Jr. Knights White in the semifinals of the ALLIANCE U18 AA-A Bristol Playdowns.

Head coach Riley Mathieson says that if the team can stick to their gameplan, they have a shot at advancing to the finals.

“We finished our regular season strong last Saturday, like we discussed when we last met there. And you know, I think if we continue to do the things that got us that win Saturday, we should be successful to start off the series. It's not going to be easy, but we'll have to stay disciplined. We'll have to keep our heads down and keep fighting, regardless of what the score is, regardless of what happens. It's nice if you got home ice to start off, and we're here Saturday night, it's supposed to go in down there,” Mathieson said.

“The message is the same. It's been all year, discipline, urgency, compete and just the want, the want to get the job done. And I think if we come with those three things, we'll be successful and competitive in any game. But you know, if we have a hard time doing that, then we could be a hard series for us to be successful in, but I think that it's definitely one that we can achieve the goal we want to.”

In the series opener at the Stratford Rotary Complex on Feb. 28, London scored in the final minute of the first period and defeated the Warriors 6-0.

Game 2 took place at the Western Fair Sports Centre in London on March 2.

Charlie Halloway scored for the Warriors, putting them on the board for the first time this postseason three minutes into the game. London then equalized at the midpoint of the first period during the final moments of their 5-on-3 power play a few minutes afterward.

After Jr. Knights White took an early lead in the second period and extended it, Halloway scored his second goal with 9:44 left in the middle frame, bringing the Warriors within one. London quickly responded less than a minute later, but Halloway completed his hat trick with 7:20 remaining, reducing the deficit again. London then increased their lead for the third time in the game, scoring with 59.9 seconds left in the middle frame to lead 5-3 at the end of the second period.

Early in the third period, Stratford narrowed the score when Josh Goodhue took a shot from near the blueline, which luckily bounced off a London defender’s skate at the front of the London net and went in.

In the final moments, Owen Chambers seized the rebound in front of the London net to equalize with a 5-5 score. Less than five minutes remaining, Noah Kaye scored the winning goal when his shot hit the left post and went into the net. From there, Stratford contained the quick London offence and preserved the win to even the series at one apiece.

Following the game, Mathieson liked the team's resilience after a tough Game 1 loss on home ice a few nights before.

“It showed a lot of character from our group to come back after a disappointing effort Saturday night, to go down 1-0 in the series. I thought we responded really well tonight to tie up the series and bring the effort that was required, especially in the third, going down two into the third, we came back and got three and held them off the sheet there,” Mathieson said.

“So I was, I was very impressed with the effort from our group and very happy with the outcome.”

Kaye explained to the Times the sequence that led to the game-winning goal.

“We had actually been planning up before that. Rylan DeBoeck was looking for that cross-ice pass all game, you know, we just try to find each other and go far pad. I was looking for that far side and just found the right hole,” Kaye said.

Game 3 is set for Rink A at the Stratford Rotary Complex on March 5, while Game 4 will be held at the Earl Nichols Arena in London on March 6.

ALLIANCE AA-A Bristol Playdowns Semifinals – (2) Stratford Warriors vs. (3) London Jr. Knights White

Game 1 – London 6 vs. Stratford 0

Game 2 – Stratford 6 vs. London 5

Game 3 – London vs. Stratford (Rotary Complex – Rink A) March 5, 9 p.m.

Game 4 – Stratford vs. London (Earl Nichols Arena) March 6, 8 p.m.

Game 5 – London vs. Stratford (William Allman Memorial Arena) March 8, 5 p.m., if necessary.

Game 6 – Stratford vs. London (Western Fair Sports Centre – Chik-fil-a Rink) March 9, 8:15 p.m., if necessary

Series tied 1-1