The Napanee Stars Atom BB
had an outstanding performance at the 58th Annual Peterborough
Liftlock Tournament over the weekend.
In the opening game of Round Robin play on Friday, the Stars moved past a strong Huntsville Otters team by a score of 4-1. On Saturday morning, a well-rested Stars team found their scoring touch in a 9-0 win over the Northumberland Knighthawks. Later that afternoon, the Stars finished Round Robin play by defeating the Stirling Blues 9-0, placing 1st in their group.
In the Semi Final Round early on Championship Sunday, the Stars were up against a hard-checking, strong defensive opponent in the Midland Centennials. Despite the majority of play being in the Centennials’ end through much of the first and second periods, the Stars were only able to muster one goal. The Centennials tied the game towards the end of a 5 on 3 power play. With under two minutes left in the game, Stars winger Aiden Brady buried a shot bar-down which proved to be the game winner – sending the Stars to the Championship game.
The tournament final between the Napanee Stars and the Listowell Cyclones took place late Sunday afternoon at the historic Peterborough Memorial Centre. As part of the memorable experience, players from both teams were welcomed on to the ice with individual player introductions before the start of play.
From the initial drop of the puck, it was clear that Napanee needed to find their legs and an extra gear to overtake the Cyclones. Several missed assignments and a few minor mistakes lead Listowell to an early 2-0 lead. It simply wasn’t meant to be for a tired and very different looking Stars team. The Cyclones added one more and then an empty net goal for the 4-0 tournament win.
Despite the loss, the Stars were very pleased with their overall tournament performance, finishing 2nd out of 20 teams in their division.
The Stars begin first round of the OMHA playoffs on January 17th against the Stirling Blues.