Warriors open season on the road
By: Michael Willoughby
The Stratford Hunter Steel Warriors kicked off the 2026-27 season by renewing their “Battle of Highway 7” series against the St. Marys Lincolns at the Pyramid Recreation Complex on Sept. 11.
Starting this season, bragging rights will be on the line for the two arch-rivals. On Sept. 8, the Warriors announced the creation of the “Highway 7 Regular Season Champions Series” on their social media channels. If the two teams split the four-game series, the winner will be decided by goal differential.
Colin Slattery opened the scoring for the Warriors as the team captain redirected a shot from Gibson Grendel at 1:43 of the first period.
The Warriors got into penalty trouble several minutes later, and the Lincolns capitalized with two power play goals before the period’s end, with both coming on separate five-on-three sessions.
St. Marys would grow their lead with two goals in the first three minutes of the second period, but the Warriors battled back, with Drew Hodge notching his first of the season, on the power play, from Will Coward and Dominic Marshall at 8:23, and Grady Murphy’s first of the year from Coen Galbraith and Marshall at the midway point of the middle frame.
Stratford pressed for the equalizer in the third period, but came up short as they dropped a 5-3 decision. In the loss, Stratford netminder Gage Hurst managed to shake off a tough start and stopped 28 of 32 shots.
After the game, Warriors head coach Dave Williams liked what the team saw at times, including the comeback effort, but cited execution issues.
“There were definitely parts of the performance that I liked. Again, they're a good hockey team, so they're going to get their moments. There were definitely moments in the game where I thought we played the way we like to play and the way we need to play,” Williams said.
“And credit to our guys too, being down 4-1. I like that we stuck to it and got ourselves back into the game. We saw lots of hockey left. We got ourselves back to 4-3. So we'll build on that.”
Stratford travelled to Woodstock for their first official meeting with the Navy Vets at the Southwood Arena on Sept. 12.
Woodstock scored first with 6:31 remaining in the first period, but Chase Martin answered for Stratford, netting his first GOHL goal assisted by Broda with 4:02 left in the period. At 2:48 into the second period, the Warriors took their first lead of the game as Ethan Bridges scored his first GOHL goal with an assist from Broda, marking his second assist of the night.
The lead held up until Woodstock tied the game with 2:49 left in the middle frame. For the second straight game, the Warriors gave up two quick goals in the early stage of the period, this time in the final frame. Slattery’s second of the season on the power play from Broda and Grendel closed the deficit to within a goal with 7:50 left, but the comeback effort came up short again with a 5-3 loss. Stratford netminder Travis Vanderzwaag stopped 14 of 18 shots in the loss.
Reflecting on the two games, Williams was dissatisfied with the outcomes but saw positive signs.
“Obviously, we're not happy with the two results. You know, just like maybe we've gotten a bit ahead of ourselves for exhibition and to where we are now, and there's definitely been parts of the games over the last two nights that we've liked. Even tonight here in the first two periods, we did a pretty good job of possessing the puck,” Williams said.
“We didn't give up a whole lot through two periods, but we still found ourselves tied, and I think there's something to learn. Feel like we took our foot off the gas a little bit in the third, and they kind of kept coming, and you know, we found ourselves behind chasing the game.”
Williams also liked the performances from the rookies, Martin and Bridges, in the first weekend in the GOHL.
“A couple guys here tonight, Chase (Martin) and Ethan (Bridges), got their first goals of the year, so you know that's what we're going to need when you move guys in and out of your lineup from year to year,” Williams said.
“You need the new guys to come in and contribute some offence. So it's good to see those two guys score goals, and that gives them a little boost of confidence to start the year when they get that first one.”
Next up for the Warriors is Sept. 18 at the William Allman Memorial Arena against the Chatham Maroons. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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