NobleKing novice LL earn gold at tourney

January 23, 2019 · 0 Comments

The Novice Knights of NobleKing Minor Hockey took the championship at the annual Hockey Moms Tournament in Delhi, Ontario.

With a snowy drive in the forecast, the NobleKing Novice LL Knights headed to Delhi, Ontario for the 34th annual Hockey Moms Tournament. While the team may have been in the middle of the pack going in, the hard-skating boys didn’t see it that way. They wanted to prove to everyone, including themselves, that they would be worthy of a first-place finish.
Knowing already that they were going to be shorthanded with 3 strong players away, CJ Rotiroti, Taran Steed and Roman Tarantino, the remaining team knew they had their work cut out for them and had to pull together as team.
With Luigi Gerardi, Xavier Manzerra and Daniel Pathan leading the charge with scoring, Joseph Cerqua, Nicolas Mbermberakis, Stefan Niro, Michael Racco and Marco Tucciarone all chipped in with single markers of their own. All 3 lines of forwards were on the scoresheets. Rounding out the 9th forward was Julian Tomada, who must have been waiting for this tournament to have his break through.
With his strong play throughout the tournament, it was his 2 goals and 5-point game that vaulted the Knights through the semis and into the championship game with a 7-2 victory.
Coming into the semi-final game, the Knights finished the round robin games with 16 goals for and 4 goals against. Lambton Shores was the other team to make the final. They finished their round robin play with an impressive 27-0 goals for and against record, and won their semi-final game with another shutout of 5-0. So these Knights knew they had to fill the net, but more importantly, keep the opponents off the scoresheet with a strong defensive play.
That’s just what they did! With the defensive group consisting of Joshua Del Vecchio, Patrick Filippo, Luca Mignardi and Christian Volpe, who at some point throughout the tournament all earned a player of the game awards, rose to the challenge. They set the tone early in the game. Their strong checking, powerful stick work and continued strong defensive positioning was evident throughout the entire tournament.
Most importantly, and their last line of defence, was the outstanding play of goaltender Luke DiFonzo. When all else failed, he came up with some unbelievable saves. Not only did he have a great tournament, but a great final game.
Lambton had scored the first goal of the game. With the Knights now trailing for the first time in the tournament, Coach Chris Gerardi, Assistant Coach Orin Del Vecchio and trainers Carlo Manzerra and Danny Tomada called an all important time out. The crowd backing the Knights, between parents and siblings, who had been so loud over the previous 4 games, had started to quiet down for a moment. The coaches told the boys: “We know you are tired and hurting, but it’s time to reach down and find that last bit of energy.”
And only a moment later it was Stefan Niro who had tied the game with a strong drive to the net. With the crowd once again loud as they were all weekend, the team was ready to bear down and make a final push. With continuous pressure from the visitors, Luigi Gerardi gave the Knights the lead. Daniel Pathan scored only a few minutes later. The crowd was roaring and it was now theirs for the taking. Some more forward pressure, another couple defensive plays, two more big saves, and the final heart-throbbing eight minutes came to an end. There goes the buzzer. Gloves and sticks started flying through the air and everyone ran for the goalie.
The Novice Knights of NobleKing Minor Hockey had done it. After going unbeaten throughout the tournament, they finish it off with a 3-1 victory and a golden prize.