Minor peewee reps make it to finals of Nobleking tournament
Submitted by Gordon Schofield

The minor peewee Knights had no trouble getting by Scarborough in this match. It was Fort Erie that gave them trouble in the finals.

The NobleKing minor peewee rep Knights reached the finals of their local hockey association tournament last weekend.

The team of 11-year olds, under the guidance of Head Coach Jim Younker, recently finished their regular season with a 10-13-5 record (with nine of their losses being one-goal defeats). They are heading into the OMHA playoffs shortly, facing Aurora in round one. Trainer Jay Gagnon has been on hand throughout the year as the boys have learned their new roles and responsibilities. Thanks go out to Jay and manager Kelly Lankester.

The Knights faced four teams in tournament roundrobin play for the chance to earn a berth in the championship contest.

Goalies Alex Marchese and Steve Sartor alternated responsibilities.

In the first encounter, the Knights were defeated by the Fort Erie Jr. Meteors 3-1 with their only goal coming from Luca Germinario (assisted by Dylan FitzGibbon). In the second game, the team earned one point on a 2-2 tie with the Port Credit Storm. Both goals came from FitzGibbon with assists by J.R. Venchiarutti and Steve Peressini. The third match was a 9-1 rout of the Scarborough Young Leafs with goals by nine different Knights - Germinario, Mathew Chung, FitzGibbon, CJ Sifton, Thomas Beretta, Ryan Lankester, Venchiarutti, Daniel Kovacs and Aaron Kimber.

After earning three points in the first three games, the Knights then needed some help to reach the final. The Duffield Devils had to defeat Port Credit in their round robin game and then the Knights had to defeat Duffield in the fourth game. The Devils did in fact defeat Port Credit, scoring their winning goal in the last minute of play.

Then Sunday morning they faced the Knights. NobleKing knew a victory was the only way to advance. Midway through the game Zachary Schofield launched a howitzer into the short side top corner for the lone and winning goal of the game, unassisted. The Knights held on to defeat Duffield and face Fort Erie Sunday evening in the championship.

Unfortunately in the tournament final, the Knights fell 5-1 with only 1 goal coming from Peressini, unassisted. The boys collected nice finalist trophies for their efforts and now look forward to the OMHA playoffs.