The Waterloo Warriors earned a hard-fought split this past weekend – with full marks for fighting through some serious adversity.
The Warriors came back from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the York Lions 3-2 on the road, in a heart-stopping game that included a Trevor Martin (Ardrossan/Calgary Hitmen, OHL) penalty shot save with just 8 seconds left in regulation. The much-needed win came a night after the Warriors dropped a 6-2 decision at home against the fourth-ranked Toronto Varsity Blues.
The split moves Waterloo to seventh place in the ultracompetitive OUA West division, with a record of 6-8-1. Connor Cole (Kitchener/Kitchener Dutchmen, GOJHL) led the way with a three-goal weekend, while captain Cam Nicoll (Loretto/Newmarket Hurricanes, OJHL) registered an assist in each contest, giving him a team-leading 15 points on the season.
Waterloo 3, York 2
On Saturday night in North York, the Warriors found themselves down two goals before the game was fourteen minutes old. But three straight goals and one controversial penalty shot save later, the black and gold had their gutsiest victory of the year.
Cole scored the game-winning goal on a two-man breakaway midway through the third, and Martin denied Scott Feser's bid to tie the game on a penalty shot in the dying seconds, as the Warriors edged York 3-2 at Canlan Ice Sports arena.
Cole scored twice on the night, and Michael Morgan (Scarborough/North York Rangers, OJHL) added his long-awaited first goal of the season, after missing much of the first half with a lower body injury. Peter De Coppi and Brendan Browne scored goals for the Lions, while goaltender Cole Ceci made 26 saves. In the Waterloo net, Martin was outstanding – the third-year 'tender turned aside 33 shots in the victory. None were bigger than the penalty shot save at 19:52 of the third, when Martin quickly cooled his disbelief over the penalty shot call to shut the door on Feser.
The Warriors were outshot 14-7 and outscored 2-0 in the opening twenty minutes, but the visitors carried the bulk of the play from that point onward. The comeback started with a Cole deflection in front to make it 2-1, before Morgan converted an excellent feed from Jack Scanlan (Penetanguishene/Stratford Warriors, GOJHL) to tie the game at 2-2 after 40 minutes.
The Warriors took the lead midway through the third when Cole and Nicoll worked the two-on-zero give-and-go to perfection, leaving Cole with a tap-in to make it 3-2. Then, with time ticking down, and Ceci on the bench for the extra attacker, the theatrics began: As the Lions circled the back of the Waterloo net, Martin slid across his line to hug the goalpost on his blocker side. When the net nudged off its moorings – which had happened a number of times at both ends of the rink – the play was whistled down. But the offiicals had deemed Martin knocked the net off intentionally, awarding the Lions a penalty shot.
An irate Martin pled his case before angrily firing one of the net pegs down the ice. But the veteran goaltender collected himself and shut down the blocker-side shot from Feser to maintain his club's lead. In one final point of controversy, Martin was then assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for voicing his consternation – but the Lions couldn't find the equalizer in eight seconds of 6-on-4 play, and the Warriors claimed victory.
Toronto 6, Waterloo 2
A night earlier at home, the Warriors stuck with the hottest team in the nation for two periods. But a three-goal third helped the Toronto Varsity Blues led them to a 6-2 victory, and their tenth straight win.
Chase Campbell (Waterloo/Windsor Spitfires, OHL) scored for the Warriors, and Cole netted the first of this three weekend tallies in a losing cause. Oliver Benwell and Hunter Atcheson each scored twice for the Blues, while Steven Elliott, Evan MacEachern, and Kyle Potts all added two assists.
Campbell's power play tally opened the scoring in the first, but the Blues answered on their own power play when Benwell slammed home his first of the night. Atchison then scored two straight goals – one in the first period, and one in the second – to put the Blues up 3-1, before Cole converted a beautiful centering feed from Nicoll to cut the deficit to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
The Warriors had some chances to tie things up early in the third, but Benwell's second goal was the backbreaker. David Thomson and Kyle Clarke rounded out the scoring for Toronto, who hasn't lost since October 12.
Julian Sime (Mississauga/North Bay Battalion, OHL) made 24 saves in defeat, while Alex Bishop's 23 stops earned him the win in the Toronto net.
Waterloo will now round out its 2019 calendar schedule with a pair of games against the same two clubs – they'll host the York Lions on Friday, November 29, before travelling to Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues in their final game before the exam and holiday break.
