Minor atom Knights make it to tournament finals

The NobleKing minor atom rep team made it to the finals in the Bob Fallis Early Bird tournament in Bradford recently.

The NobleKing minor atom rep team made it to the finals in the Bob Fallis Early Bird tournament in Bradford last weekend.

In their first game, the Knights, whose sponsors include BMC Masonry, Primus Canada, Quadra Management, Plastcrete mouldings, Dufferin construction and Formcrete, battled Waterloo to win 3-1. NobleKing goals from Aaron Heffernan, Matthew Unterlander and Antonio Ficociello, while Michaela Shortill was awesome between the pipes and was awarded game MVP.

In the second match, the Knights played Newmarket to a 1-1 tie. This was a very competitive and defensive game, with the sole goal scored by Lucas Brockie. This was definitely the turning point for the team and gave the players a lot of confidence. Great defensive efforts came from Jack Payne, Lucas Stanghieri, Hayden Cummings and Shortill. Goaltender Mitchell Merrilees was awesome in net, making 25 saves. He was also awarded MVP honours.

In the next game, the Knights played Coburg and took over early in the match, eventually winning 6-0. Goals were scored by Aaron Heffernan, Ficociello, Connor Brunt, Brockie, Cummings and Patrick Warner, with the shutout going to Shortill. With the win, the Knights placed first in their division, allowing them to move on to the semi-finals. Game MVP was Ficociello for his tremendous effort to score the second goal in the second period. In the semi-final game,

the Knights squeezed a 2-1 win over the host Bradford team. Bradford got many shots on net, but Merrilees was solid again in net, keeping the Knights alive to proceed to the championship final Sunday. The first goal for the Knights was spearheaded by Daniel MacGregor and scored by Luke DeNicola, followed by the game-winning goal by Christopher Frenette.

In the final game, the Knights faced Waterloo again for the tournament championship, losing 2-1 in a close-fought game. Great goaltending was again provided by Shortill who was awarded game MVP honours. The sole goal scored by the captain for the game, Frenette, who also received the Tournament Finalist trophy for the team.