NEWS RELEASE
RAMA FIRST NATION U14 A ORILLIA TERRIERS
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The Rama First Nation U14 A Orillia Terriers are Ontario Minor Hockey Association champions after defeating the Centre Wellington Fusion 4-2 in a dramatic, highly competitive final in Whitby this past weekend.
After going down 1-0 late in the first period, the Terriers scored two goals in 13 seconds to take a 2-1 lead. Zach Clarke put in a rebound to get on the board. Seconds later, Tosh Smith beat the Fusion goaltender while falling to the ice to go up 2-1.
As the game continued, the Terriers played their physical style, limiting the opponent’s scoring chances and maintaining the lead. Centre Wellington managed to tie the game early in the third period, which led to a tense final 10 minutes of the game.
With both teams exchanging scoring chances and some hard body checks, the time was winding down. Then, with a little under five minutes to play, Lucas Lynch found himself alone at the front of the net and on the end of a nice pass from Will Ligers to score the go-ahead goal and send the Terrier fans into a frenzy.
A minute later, Lynch iced the game with his second goal off an offensive zone face-off win from Aiden Lewis, which beat the unaware Fusion goalie.
The last few minutes, the Terriers relied on strong team defence and continued stellar goaltending from Ben Weismiller to hold off the Fusion and win the coveted Red Hats.
The road to finals had its ups and downs, beginning Friday with an opening-game 4-2 loss to the Fusion. The Terriers rebounded nicely on Saturday with a convincing 5-1 win over the Erie North Shore Storm and a 3-1 win over the Peterborough Petes.
Finishing 2-1 in pool play, the Terriers finished second in their pool, which set up a semifinal date with their York Simcoe Hockey League rival Barrie Colts.
In another tight-checking, fast-paced game against the Colts, their rival opened the scoring midway through the first period on a cross-crease pass, beating goaltender Carson King. Not to be phased by the first goal, King stood tall the rest of the way, giving the Terriers the chance to make a comeback.
Jack Piper capitalized on a Barrie turnover, snapping a shot past the Barrie goalie to tie the game before the end of the first period.
Orillia continued its strong play throughout the second period, keeping Barrie at bay, but couldn’t take the lead. Then, late in the second period, Lewis pulled the Terriers ahead by tipping a Ben La Hay point shot over the Colts goalie’s shoulder to take the lead.
Heading into the third period with a 2-1 lead, the Terriers continued their fast, physical play, fending off the charging Colts as the time continued to wind down. Shortly under two minutes to go, La Hay scored a short-handed, empty-net goal to ice the game and send the Terriers off to the finals.
The 2021-22 Rama First Nation U14 A Terriers roster includes goalies King and Weismiller, defencemen George Alford, James Fagan, Jack Hedges, La Hay, Austin McLeod and Spencer Shropshire, forwards Kiefer Barlow, Clarke, Jasper Holenski, Lewis, Ligers, Lynch, Jack Piper, Alex Sickinger, Smith and Carter Torkoff.
The Terriers were coached by head coach Sean Ostrom, assistant coaches Mike Torkoff and Jamie Wainman, trainers Juris Ligers and Clay Hedges and managed by Amie Shropshire.
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