The Highland Storm U13 LL Up Right Roofing team had a very successful season.
The team started off with a tournament in Bancroft, losing in the final game. But their spirits remained high and their focus was on the upcoming Silver Stick tournament in Haliburton.
After the round-robin portion of the tournament, our team was able to advance to the semis after winning the tie-breaker of best goals for or against ratio.
Our team was backstopped by two first-year goaltenders, Corbin Elliot and Matthew Mueller. These two quickly became proficient between the pipes under the guidance of assistant coach, Taylor Consack. Unfortunately, we lost in the semi-finals but came out of the tournament having learned a lot about our team.
Our third tournament of the season, held in Norwood this past January, was one to remember. The tournament format created extra excitement and some anxiety. With the possibility of earning 15 points per game, every period counts and if you could manage a shutout, it gave you the best chance to advance.
We managed two shutouts in the round-robin with fantastic defending from Callum Merrit, Liam Milburn, Patrick Valentini and Lucas Vale. We again found ourselves in a tie-breaker situation and again our goals for and against ratio helped us advance, this time to the final game. We came up short in the final game, but again we learned more about our team and our capabilities.
By the end of our league’s regular season, we were undefeated and had only 12 goals against and 132 goals for. Our forwards, Gibson Pockett, Aiden Innes, Jacob Manning, Lucas Upton, Claire Hamilton, Katie Lavalle and Duncan Evans-Fockler, learned to work together and defend our end very well.
All of our hard work and practice this season came together during the playoffs, where we were crowned champions. It has been a pleasure coaching this team alongside assistant coach Rod Upton, trainer Dan Fockler, Consack and manager Audrina Townsend.
