The
Erie North Shore Storm Novice AE completed their season this past weekend
winning the championship at the Motown Cup in Michigan.
The Storm squad had previously earned silver medals in both OMHA Playdowns and in the Hespeler tournament and were hungry for gold this time. Travelling state side for the first time, they encountered two familiar foes in the first two games in Kent and Tecumseh, the two teams they eliminated in six games to make it to the OMHA finals. Similar to all of the previous meetings with these teams, the games were close, both ending in a tie. In the game against the Kent Cobras, the shots on net were very close, with many scoring chances at both ends of the ice. The final score was 2-2 with Connor Brown and Quinn Brennan putting Erie North Shore with assists to Carson Stomp, Ben Buchner and Elijah Pezzotti. Next up, the Tecumseh Eagles where the Storm completely dominated their opposition only allowing 6 shots against while throwing everything they had at the Eagles net. However, the Tecumseh goalie put up a wall to earn his team a 0-0 tie. The third and final game of the round-robin was against the Lakeland Hawks, setting up an international contest, Canada against the USA. In a very physical and exciting game. The Storm netted the tying goal with only 1:17 remaining in the game to earn the 3-3 tie to move to the final game on Sunday against the Kent Cobras. The tying goal was scored by Nevan Branco, assisted by Ben. Ben and Elijah also scored with helpers by Ben, Nevan and Sage Batke. The championship game was another classic. The Storm struck early in the first period with a goal from Nevan setup by Ashton Sim. The Erie North Shore kids held the Cobras at bay until a they tied the score at one apiece with only five seconds left in the second period. After a back and forth third period with many chances missed by the Storm, overtime would be needed to decide the winner. Just over a minute into the extra frame, Quinn passed the puck of the boards to Ben who made his way past two Cobra defenders to break in on a breakaway and fire the game winner for the Storm. Finally, the Erie North Shore Storm Novice AE proved they were champions, with a big victory to end a great season.