Feb 05, 2018 | bhoskin | 984 views
Spry Site Supervision Atom A International Silver Stick Champions
The Spry Site Supervision Atom A Bearcats won the International Silver Stick Championship held this weekend in Aurora, Ontario.
This is their fourth tournament championship of the season.
The Bearcats opened their ledger in Aurora versus a strong Guelph Gryphons team. The Gryphons scored first and with time running down in the game it looked like that goal might be the winner, but these Bearcats never give up, scoring twice in the final 4 minutes to earn the win and their first 2 points of the Silver Stick.
Their next opponent was East Division rival, Toronto Leaside Wildcats. Belleville came out of the gate strong, scoring two goals in the first 3 minutes of the game and adding another in the second period. Toronto Leaside would score with 2 minutes left in the third, but their comeback attempt would fall short as the Bearcats shut the door and earned their second win of the tournament.
Aurora #2 were the game 3 opponents. Having already qualified as winners of their group the Bearcats seemed to struggle to find their flow, but were able to net two second period goals. With time winding down Aurora crashed the net pushing the Bearcats goaltender and the puck into the cage. The goal was allowed to stand, but that was all Belleville would give up, earning a perfect group record and 1st place privileges in the Semi-Final.
Aurora #1, one of the top teams in the province were all that was standing between the Bearcats and a trip to the finals. The teams seemed to be testing each other out in the first period before Aurora jumped on a loose puck and fired just under the bar to take the lead. The Bearcats responded immediately, scoring less than a minute later to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the second period. The second period was all Belleville as they scored twice more. They were 12 minutes away from playing in the International Silver Stick Finals. They shut the door in the third, adding an empty netter to make the final score 4-1.
The Bearcats opponent in the finals was a familiar one. Toronto Leaside Wildcats had toppled the Mississauga Chiefs in the other Semi-Final. Familiar foes, having played against each other five times previously there was an electric excitement that flowed through the game and the fans. Belleville opened the scoring with only 0:41 left in the first with what would prove to be the game winner. The Bearcats added a second goal and would shut the door on Toronto Leaside to earn the win the title of International Silver Stick Champions by a score of 2-0.
The Spry Site Supervision Bearcats season record is now 43W - 6L - 7T.