The Investors Group Spartans finished off a successful season with a gold medal win at the recent Peewee hockey tournament held in the Comox Valley.
Play started Friday afternoon with the Spartans taking on a strong Cowichan Valley team. The game was hard fought with the Spartans capitalizing on a breakaway goal by Kyle Sheehan to lead 1-0 lead after one period.
The Spartans ended the second period up 2-1 on a goal by Nick Corriea, and though the third period saw Cowichan take a 3-2 lead, the Spartans pulled their goalie and tied the game with a little over a minute left on the clock resulting in a final score of 3-3.
On Saturday afternoon the Spartans faced Powell River. The Spartans tightened up their defensive play and led by the always solid goaltending of Isaac L’Arrivee, and the strong team defence of Andrew Burgess, Will Derksen, Payton Silvester, Owen Watt and John Burgess skated to a 4-0 victory. Scoring for the Spartans were Griffin Jamieson, Nick Correia, Dale Curror and Andrew Burgess.
In the second game of the afternoon the Spartans needed a win against Nanaimo to advance to Sunday’s gold medal final. Liam Penner opened the scoring for the Spartans with a strong drive to the net, firing a rebound past the Nanaimo goalie.
While Nanaimo answered back and took a 2-1 lead into the second period, it was at this point that the strong forecheck and solid defensive game of the Spartans took over. Led by wingers Cole Philips, Jake Skidnuk, Dylan Munger, and Liam Court, the constant pressure they put on Nanaimo led to a number of turnovers and scoring chances for the Spartans, with snipers Curror, Correia and Jamieson eventually tallying goals, and the strong defense as well as the goaltending of L’Arrivee holding fast for a 4-2 victory.
Sunday afternoon saw the Spartans taking on the team from Campbell River in the gold medal game, and while Campbell River opened up an early lead and controlled the opening minutes, a number of fantastic saves by L’Arrivee kept the game close.
During the second period the flow of the game changed as the Spartan’s team discipline and hard work started to pay off. Jamieson led the way offensively scoring four straight goals of his eventual five during the game. Sheehan and Penner also added individual tallies for an eventual 7-3 Spartans victory.
Despite the seven-goal outburst by the Spartans it was once again team defence, disciplined play, solid goaltending and an incredible work effort by all team members that led to the victory for the Spartans and wrapped up a successful hockey season.
– Investors Group Spartans