Nov 15, 2021 | Mike Gilmore | 669 views
U15 A Gold Eagles Soar to Championship
The
Burlington Eagles U15 A Gold took home the gold medal this weekend in the
Stoney Creek 38th Annual Tournament of Champions.
The Eagles began their journey to gold Thursday evening with a heartbreaking and controversial 2-1 overtime loss to the host team. The Eagles bounced back the next morning with a gritty 2-1 victory over the Welland Tigers. Sitting at 1-1 heading into Saturday, the Eagles faced off against a hungry West Carleton Crusaders team. Once again, the 2-1 theme continued as the Eagles dropped their second game after another heartbreaking goal with only minutes to play.
With a tournament boasting a format with no quarter final or semi-final matchups, the Eagles second loss set up a must win situation late Saturday evening against a very strong Barrie Colts team. Knowing their tournament fate was on the line, the Eagles swooped in quickly and jumped all over the Colts and prevailed 4-2 with a complete team win, bucking the Colts from the tournament and creating a five-way tie to move into the finals. The Eagles 2-1 theme would play a big role in their success as their stingy defense allowed them to wrap up second place based on their goals for percentage, the tournament tiebreaker.
On Sunday afternoon, the Eagles faced the first Georgina Blaze. Boasting only one loss, ironically a 2-1 loss, the Eagles faced some stiff competition. However, once again, they came out on fire as they looked to extinguish the Blaze. After numerous close chances and carrying much of the play, the Eagles found themselves down 1-0. Clawing their way back, the Eagles tied the game 1-1 in a hotly contested contest. Once again, overtime (3 v 3) loomed and another 2-1 score would be the result. Thankfully, the Eagles carried most of the play in the overtime and scored a fantastic game winning goal with little time left on the clock before the teams would have proceeded to 1 v 1 overtime.
Despite the tournament opening and disappointing 2-1 loss in overtime (1 v1), the Eagles delivered with a complete team effort 2-1 overtime win on Sunday. Timely goal scoring, gritty play and stingy defense/goaltending (8 goals allowed in five games) sealed the championship.
A very special thanks to our AP players, Caleb Kreissler, Jacob Edwards and Brennan Mee.