Rep Knights end season with tournament triumph

The NobleKing Knights novice rep team capped a successful season this past weekend by capturing the championship of the Mississauga Ice Dogs Spring Tournament.

The young Knights had three wins in the round robin segment of the tourney, with wins over Whitby, Guelph and North Toronto. They faced North Toronto again in the semifinals and after trailing 5-1 early, mounted an emotional, hard-fought comeback, winning 7-5 in the final minute of the game.

The character, heart and effort shown all year by this team was displayed again in the championship game. Their opponents were the previously undefeated OMHA champion Cobourg Cougars. It was a great endto end battle all game. NobleKing took a 1-0 lead late in the second period, but Cobourg seemed destined to maintain their perfect season by tying the game late in the third to send the match to overtime. The resilience and persistency taught by the coaches all year paid off as NobleKing scored in the first minute of overtime to break Cobourg's hearts.

This was truly a team effort all season long, with steady scoring from the forwards Nolan Maggiacomo, Eric Else, Christian Lakoseljak, Connor and Zachary Jamieson, Mark Bastianello and Thomas Russell along with strong, stonewall defense from Nicholas Jones, Kody Clark, Alex Paglia and "Manny" Olivieri, not to mention the timely goaltending of Harrison Mott.

The novice Knights finished the regular season in second place, which seemed to hurt more than help, as numerous byes during the playoffs slowed this team's usual intensity. However this tournament win, coupled with the championship of their own association tournament, was more representative of their skills and abilities.

The parent group would like to extend a huge thanks to the Clark family for all their contributions this year as well as the sponsor, C.I.P. Group.

Of course all of this wouldn't have been possible without the dedication and patience of the great coaching staff, led by Head Coach Mark Jamieson with Assistants Mark Russell, Victor Lakoseljak and Sante Paglia, and manager Patrzia Scodeller.