Wednesday
night the Minior PeeWee AE's took to the ice in game three of the OMHA
quarterfinals against Brampton. A win would put the the boys into the
semi-finals.
With the Junior Gryphons dominating the score sheet in the first two games of the Brampton series, the concern was would they take the 45s too lightly and miss the opportunity to capture their spot in the next round. Brampton came out of the blocks in their typical aggressive manner, putting the Gryphons on their heels and creating several good scoring chances.
At the 4 minute mark it was Peyton Smith who picked up the puck in the Gryphon zone and flew down the right boards, attacking the Brampton end. With a burst of speed at the Brampton blue-line creating separation from their defense, he was able to cut in on net and fire a hard wrist shot, that rung off the goalies mask and into the back of the net.
The game would remain 1-0 into the second period when aggressive forechecking in the Brampton end by the Byard line caused a turn over behind their net. Jackson Byard picked up the puck and looked to centre the pass to his line mates, but a Brampton defenseman accidentally deflected the puck into his own net to make the score 2-0. The Byard line would get in on the action again with just over 7 minutes left in the second period when Vid Peteranac grabbed a dump in attempt by a Brampton forward, flipped the puck high off the glass to Byard who raced down the right boards. After entering the zone, he curled at the hash-marks and fed a perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Peyton Markwood who had snuck behind the defense and was able to tap the puck into the back of the net.
That would be the last goal in the period, game, and series, as the Junior Gryphons would hold on to the 3-0 lead for the win. While the forwards showed they could score in bunches in the series, it was the complete team defense that paved the way for victory. Led by Lucas Jones, Max Heroux and the regular defense line-up of Duffy, Fletcher, Schlitt, Kusiak, Peteranac, and Roffel (with Kingston Beynon stepping up in game 2), the Gryphon team held Brampton to 1 goal against in 3 games to earn the sweep.
That defense first mentality will be essential as the Minor PeeWee AE's move on to face Milton White in the OMHA semifinals, who were the top team and top scorers in the league this past year. The trip to the semifinals is the third consecutive year for the majority of this group, an incredible feat unmatched by any team in Guelph or any competitor they have faced during this stretch.