Apr 07, 2024 | Duncan Bates | 44 views
U15 Gryphons End the Season With Their Biggest Win Yet!
The U15 Gryphons played out the balance of their season through March with a series of wins to set themselves up for a big season finale in Ajax at the Ajax Pickering Spring Thaw Tournament.
Entering the tournament, the Gryphons were riding a 4 game win streak following a very disappointing exit from the Run to the Hills tournament in Halton. The bitter exit, followed by a string of wins sent the boys to the east side of the GTA with momentum starting with a game on Friday morning against the host organization, Ajax Pickering Raiders, resulting in a commanding 7-0 Win with goals from Bates, Vanderwoerd, Lever, Howden, Martin and King. Friday afternoon followed suit with a much tighter match against a strong Kingston Panthers team and a 3-2 win for the Gryphons aided by pucks finding the back of the net from Harrison, Waugh and Wright.
Saturday afternoon saw the boys return to the rink to face against the Stirling Blues in game 3 of the round robin matchups. Despite an incredibly lopsided game with a clinical show of puck movement and over 40 shots on net, the best the boys could muster was a 2-0 win on the back of goals from Hanna and Vanderwoerd. The victory put the team squarely at the top of the pack in round robin with an evening game against the Northumberland Nighthawks and a place in the semi-finals already secured. Northumberland came strong but were no match for the Gryphons, building upon the success of their cycling game against Stirling, the Gryphons promptly went up and never looked back on their way to a 6-0 win and third shut-out in four games. The floodgates were opened by Martin with King, Bailey, Harrison, and Williams filling the net. With first place locked in, the boys went to bed with a rematch against the Ajax Pickering Raiders on their mind early Sunday morning.
With nerves in check, the team hit the ice for a Sunday morning rematch against the 4th place Raiders, and much like the night before, quickly showed dominance on their way to a 9-0 assault securing a berth in the finals, a rematch against the Kingston Panthers in what was surely to be a tighter contest. Maintaining consistency with a solid team effort, and an utterly terrifying howitzer from the point, Hanna stole the show for goal scoring glory, despite a hat trick from Martin and contributions from Harrison, King, Deckers and Player.
Friends and family lined the stands as the team stepped on the ice to shake a years-old monkey off their back, looking for their first tournament win in at least half a decade. Nerves were apparent, sticks were gripped tightly and the first few shifts were wobbly. Porter Harrison tightened the wheels before the buzzer rang with a beautiful shot from the circle to put the Gryphons up by one at the first intermission. The second period started in similar fashion until Ryan Lever capitalized on a net front scramble sending home a rebound to put the Gryphons up 2-0. 2-0 quickly became 3-0 after Banin Howden sent a rocket to the twine but Kingston kept the pressure up and managed a goal before the end of the period to send us into the final frame up 3-1. With the pressure building on the team to maintain the lead, Kingston mounting pressure and a championship on the line, Cameron King found the net in the third to secure the lead at 4-1 and send the boys into a dump, trap, and cycle game as the clock inched towards the final buzzer.
The U15 Gryphons, for the first time in years, finally left the building with a gold medal, the cup and a banner to show for their absolutely incredible season. What a way to finish the year boys, we always said we're here to climb a mountain, and you guys did and put a flag on top to call it yours, we're all so incredibly proud of what you've done, how far you've come and how amazing it is to see what you guys can do as a team with a common goal!
Congratulations!!