Backs against the wall. Do or die. No tomorrow.
For two Niagara-on-the-Lake rep hockey teams all those sports cliches rang true last week as they faced imminent playoff elimination.
But the U13 and U15 Wolves both prevailed, winning the Niagara District crown and earning berths in the provincial championships in Halton Hills at the end of March.
The U13 team did it in dramatic fashion.
After a win and a tie put the Wolves up 3 points to 1 in the 4-point series, NOTL could win it all at home in game 3 last Wednesday night.
But the U13s gave up two late third-period power-play goals to lose 3-2 to the Glancaster Bombers. That tied the series.
With a winner-take-all finale two nights later in Ancaster, the Wolves fought back for a 3-2 victory in double overtime.
It had fans at the edge of their seats. After five minutes of 4-on-4 overtime, the game moved to three minutes of 3-on-3. With less than 60 seconds to go and a shootout looming, defenceman Kosta Condos was the hero.
“He carried the puck over the offensive blue line while our other two players went for a line change,” head coach Gary Friesen said in an interview.
As his teammates skated to the bench, it looked like Condos was just going to dump the puck in and change.
“Instead he fired a slapshot that found its way into the back of the net.”
Game over, the Wolves were Niagara District champs and they had qualified for the Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships.
It was a close-fought series, Friesen said, and it could have gone either way. His team’s two goaltenders, William Ecker and Declan MacNeill, both were stellar during the playoffs, he said.
Admittedly, game 3 had been “a very discouraging loss” for the players but the coaching staff urged them to focus on positive thoughts and visualize themselves playing their best on Friday.
“It’s actually a really good life lesson for the kids: You can’t do anything about it now, so just look ahead and put your best foot forward,” Friesen said.
In the final game, Ike Good opened the scoring in the second with a snapshot from the slot. Then, after Glancaster went ahead 2-1 early in the third, Campbell Whyte answered back for NOTL 38 seconds later.
There was no further scoring until Condos’ heroics in OT. Next stop Halton Hills March 27 to 29.
Friesen’s coaching staff includes Timothy Whyte, Steve Lidstone, Craig Slack and Chris Hiebendaal. Players are Conor Bailey, Kosta Condos, Kale Conroy, Vincenzo Coppola, Will Ecker, Evan Ferreira, Jack Friesen, Ike Good, Charlie Hiebendaal, Will Lidstone, Declan MacNeill, Cole Milot, Brendyn Palka, Nathan Reid, Amedeo Santini, Campbell Whyte and Easton Wilkinson.
The U15 Wolves didn’t have quite as dramatic a road to the provincials as they pulled off a 3-0 win at home last Wednesday in the deciding game of a series against the Port Colborne Sailors. But the series did test their resilience.
With the first team to four points advancing to the OMHAs, the Wolves were shutout 2-0 in game 1.
Another loss meant elimination, head coach Rich Andres noted. But the Wolves stayed alive with a 1-1 tie in game 2.
NOTL goaltender Tomas Nolan didn’t allow another goal after that, posting back-to-back shutouts in games 3 and 4 as the Wolves fought back with 2-0 and 3-0 wins.
Dean Olsen had the lone NOTL goal in game 2 while Cian Doyle and Olsen scored in game 3. Easton VanBerkel had the series winner in game 4 as Logan Stewart and Olsen also tallied.
“It has been a great season,” Andres told The Lake Report. “The team has really come together and learned to play at the rep level with body contact.”
“We continued to improve as the season went along.”
After losing in the semifinal of their home tourney in NOTL, the Wolves won the consolation championship in the Georgian Shores tournament.
That final “was a turning point for our season as we came from behind with two third-period goals to beat a very good Georgian Shores team,” Andres said.
He noted that every member of the team contributed and stepped up at different times this season. “It really has been a complete team effort. We believe in these young men and are very proud of what they have accomplished.”
“Our goal at the OMHAs is to compete against the top teams in our division in Ontario and make NOTL minor hockey proud.”
“We are looking forward to a great experience as the coaches, boys and their families continue to build friendships and make memories they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
His coaching staff includes of Craig Slack, Ryan Nickel and Easton Andres. The team is comprised of Henry Buffington, Michael Collins, Landen Dick, Cian Doyle, Frank Harper, Sam Kallio, Noah Nickel, Tomas Nolan, Dean Olsen, Maxim Plomish, Easton Van Berkel, Jake Van Spronsen, Logan Stewart and Lucas Woods.
