Warriors derail Nationals in Game 7, set up rematch with Chatham
- Apr 2
- 6 min read
The Western Conference Quarterfinals went the distance, but the Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors prevailed in a 6-3 win over the London Nationals in Game 7 on March 25, setting up the rematch from last year’s semifinal series with the Chatham Maroons.
A near-capacity crowd of 1,212 fans braved the weather to the William Allman Memorial Arena for the winner-take-all contest.
At 4:20 of the first period, Coen Galbraith fired the crowd into a frenzy with his fourth playoff goal, assisted by Dominic Marshall and Drew Hodge, giving the Warriors the lead. With just over two minutes remaining in the opening frame, the Nationals evened the score. Stratford goaltender Noah Bender made the initial save on Austen Pomerleau, but the clearing attempt ricocheted off a defender and went over the 6’4” Bender for the game-tying goal.
The second period was the Warriors' most offensively productive of the series. During the power play at 2:12, Jaxon Broda took advantage of a mistake by London goalie Dante Bertolin deep in the London zone, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Marshall received the pass from Galbraith and managed to shoot the puck between the pads of Bertolin for his fourth of the postseason and take a 3-1 lead. After Dax Vader was hit on centre ice, resulting in a five-minute powerplay, the Warriors seized the opportunity once more as Max Wildfong tipped the shot from Will Coward past Bertolin, giving the home side a commanding 4-1 lead.
In the rough and tumble middle frame, a total of 37 penalty minutes were accumulated by both teams, 25 of those by the Nationals.
Luke Minard scored his second of the playoffs early in the third period to make it 5-1 for the Warriors. Nathaniel Adams and Brody Dunbar put the Nationals within striking distance, but their efforts fell short as Bender and the Stratford defence contained the London offensive for the duration of the final frame. Stratford team captain Haden Frayne cemented the series win with the empty netter in the final minute of play in the game.
Bender recorded 26 saves in the series-clinching victory and credits the win to a strong team effort. He highlights the importance of remaining focused and present during crucial moments, particularly in the third period.
“I was just trying to stay focused, stay in the moment, not worry about what the score was or how much time was left. Just play my game and not worry about anything else,” Bender said.
Grady Murphy, Frayne, Marshall and Galbraith explained how the team felt pressure to close the series.
“It was pretty good. I mean, we just, we got in our groove there in the second period, and just putting the puck in the net seemed pretty easy at that time,” Murphy said.
“I thought the room was great all night long. The guys were prepared before the game, and we just stayed up all game long. Yeah, that was a long second period, a lot of penalties, but we did a good job staying level-headed and just working,” Frayne said.
“It was so huge. We love our fans so much. When it's a packed barn in here, there's nothing better that we'd like to see. So it was awesome,” Marshall said.
“Just stay calm, play our games, and rally behind our fans. We had a great fan base tonight, which was great to see. The Allman was buzzing tonight,” Galbraith said.
Head coach Dave Williams was satisfied with the team’s performance and their progression to the next round.
“Feels great. I'm really proud of the group. You know, I thought we played a pretty solid game here after losing the last couple, so kudos to the group for coming tonight and battling the way they did and playing the type of game that they did,” Williams said.
“I thought we played a decent first period. You know, I think both teams kind of traded some chances in the first, but we're happy with our work ethic. I think we just needed to manage the puck a little bit. We were turning pucks over. Too many pucks were coming out of our zone and through the neutral zone, but we were able to get some into the offensive zone. We probably could have scored a few more goals, and we did credit to their goaltender. I thought he was really good in the second and probably kept the score a little bit closer than it might have.”
With the Nationals behind them, the focus shifts to the Chatham Maroons in the rematch of last year's thrilling seven-game series, where the Maroons narrowly defeated the Warriors in Game 7.
Williams shared his thoughts on their second-round opponent, mentioning that the Maroons are no different from last year.
“Well, I mean, their team is kind of very similar to their team from last year, and I think we're also very similar to the team we had last year. So obviously, there's a lot of offensive firepower in Chatham, so we're going to have to defend really, really well, and be really mindful with our discipline and not give some of their skill guys that extra time and space on the power play. So we'll enjoy it tonight,” Williams said.
On March 29, Stratford travelled to Chatham for a matchup with the Maroons in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
The Maroons opened the scoring with 2:40 remaining in the first period with the goal from Trevor Zanutto. Forty-one seconds into the second period, the Warriors tied the game on a goal by former Maroon Cruz Ferguson from Wildfong. Bo Doxtator gave the Maroons back the lead, but Kipfer from Haylock and Will Coward responded for the Warriors with a late goal in the middle frame.
Despite the strong effort by the Warriors, it was Chatham that ultimately prevailed in the series opener after a goal scored by Xandre Aitken with 2:03 left put the Maroons ahead in the series. Bender stopped 37 of 40 shots in the loss.
Game 2 was held at the Allman Arena on March 30, with the Warriors looking to even the series.
Stratford opened the scoring at 3:19 with Arnold scoring his second of the playoffs from Galbraith. Midway through the first period, Drew Hodge scored his first of the playoffs from Kipfer and Schmidt to put the Warriors ahead 2-0. Chatham closed the Stratford lead in half on a late-period goal from Santiago Jimenes with 58 seconds left.
An unassisted goal from Haylock put the home side up 3-1 with 6:04 left in the second period, but the Maroons responded with another late-period marker on a goal from Max Skinner with 1:51 left in the middle frame.
The Warriors poured on the offence in the third period, courtesy of goals from Haylock (second of the game), Kipfer and a powerplay goal from Ferguson to put the game out of reach by the midway point of the final frame, en route to a 6-2 win to even the series at one apiece. Bender stopped 28 of 30 shots in the Game 2 win. A total of eleven different Warriors players recorded a point.
Game 3 returns to the Chatham Memorial Arena on April 2 (after press time), while Game 4 is at the Allman Arena on April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
GOHL Western Conference Quarterfinals (#4 Stratford Warriors vs. #5 London Nationals
Game 1 – London 5 Stratford 2
Game 2 – Stratford 4 London 1
Game 3 – London 1 Stratford 5
Game 4 – Stratford 4 London 3
Game 5 – London 5 Stratford 4
Game 6 – Stratford 2 London 4
Game 7 - London 3 Stratford 6
Stratford wins series 4-3
GOHL Western Conference Semifinals (#1 Chatham Maroons vs. #4 Stratford Warriors
Game 1 – Stratford 2 Chatham 3
Game 2 – Chatham 2 Stratford 6
Game 3 – Stratford vs. Chatham (Chatham Memorial Arena) April 2, 7 p.m.
Game 4 – Chatham vs. Stratford (William Allman Memorial Arena) April 3, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5 – Stratford vs. Chatham (Chatham Memorial Arena) April 5, 7 p.m.
Game 6 – Chatham vs. Stratford (William Allman Memorial Arena) April 6, 7:30 p.m. (if needed)
Game 7 - Stratford vs. Chatham (Chatham Memorial Arena) April 9, 7 p.m. (if needed)
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