U13 Lakers Get Walk-Off Championship Goal To Complete Undefeated Tournament Run
/The U13 Peterborough Lakers got a walk-off championship goal in overtime that capped off an undefeated run at the 33rd-Annual John ‘Gus’ McCauley Memorial Tournament at the Century Gardens Recreation Centre in Brampton on Sunday.
Photo courtesy of U13-2 Lakers.
The three-day tournament had the Lakers play two out of three round-robin games on Friday.
They routed the eventual winless Strathroy Screaming Eagles, 9-1, in Peterborough’s first victory. They allowed only one goal with eight minutes left in the first period and clamped down defensively since then.
The Lakers earned their second victory over the Midland Titans in another blowout, 8-1. Peterborough went on an eight-goal run, only to see their shutout get snapped from a power play goal later in the third.
Peterborough’s only game on Saturday was against the Brampton Excelsiors and it was their closest game of the tournament. In a low-scoring affair, the Lakers had a 4-1 lead but allowed two late third-period goals to make it a one-score affair with 1:34 in regulation. Peterborough held on and won 4-3 to remain perfect through the round robin and advanced to the semifinals.
They met the Midland Titans again and while the score was tighter, Peterborough dominated play with a 6-1 win. The Lakers allowed the first goal of the game, then went on a 6-0 run to cap off the victory and advance to the finals.
Peterborough was paired with the Excelsiors again in the championship match. The Lakers stumbled out of the gate, failing to score during the first 21 minutes of regulation while allowing Brampton to score twice. Peterborough finally got on the board nearly halfway through the second period to make it 2-1.
The Lakers tied things up with a power-play goal early in the third to force overtime.
Brampton had an opportunity to spoil Peterborough’s undefeated run and win on their home turf but failed to get it past the goaltender. The Lakers capitalized and scored the walk-off overtime goal to capture the championship and secure an undefeated tournament run.
The following are the Lakers’s players and staff:
Nicolas Aguilar
Korban Andrew
Emerson Birkhof-Talbot
Bryson Croswell
Colten Crough
Bennett Ducie
Easton Garlough (Ruthowsky)
Reed Graham
Bentley Heffernan
Oliver Hodgins
Keegan Jennings
Keegan McCormick
Hayden McIntyre
Jonathan McNamara
Zachary Reid
Easton Wilson
Grayson Wolff
Head Coach - Chad Birkhof
Asst. Coach - Broedie Birkhof
Asst. Coach/Goalie Coach - Callan Baker
Asst. Coach - Dan Crough
Asst. Coach - Shawn McNamara
Trainer - Dan Aguilar
Manager - Jo Dunbar
