A dramatic shootout victory earned the Hamilton Logging Midget hockey team top spot at a weekend tournament in Port McNeill.
The team had been playing well of late and wanted to keep the momentum going. After the long car ride they did just that on Saturday, defeating Port Hardy 9-2 and the host Port McNeill team 5-2.
Play resumed early Sunday morning with Hamilton’s final round robin game against Parkville. After an entertaining, action-packed game the Comox Valley squad prevailed 2-1 to finish atop the pool standings. Their next game would be for the tournament title a couple of hours later.
In the final Parksville came out strong looking for revenge, but the local team dug deep as the game went back and forth with several lead changes. Parksville scored late in the third period to knot the game at 3-3 and force a that was the score at the end of regulation. This meant the tournament title would come down to a 3 shot per team shoot out.
The goalies on both teams stood tall as Hamilton's Brandon Armstrong stopped all three of his shots and the Parksville goalie responded with two saves of his own. The last Hamilton shot remained and Dan Briggs moved in and buried the winner five hole.
The team got great goaltending all tournament long from Armstrong as well as steady support from the defensive corps of Kyrsten Buchanan, Jordan Buell, Taylor Maclean, Chris Schrader and Tucker Tomko.
The forwards held up their end with all lines contributing to the scoring as the coaches rolled three lines consistently, allowing the team to be fresh for the entire tournament. The lines were: Trent Gammon, Dan Briggs and Brigitte Cattell; Jesse Owen, Josh Torry and Steve Sanger; and Levi DiCastri, Mitch Koorn and Alexa Nottebrock.
"Special thanks to head coach Pete Tomko and assistants Scott Torry and Darryl Owen," a team spokesperson said. "Also thanks to Hamilton Logging for sponsorship and support of the team. It was a great weekend all around for parents and kids."