Minor atom Knights crowned champions in March Meltdown

Last Friday the NobleKing Knights minor atom team took to the ice in Etobicoke to challenge the best the GTHL could throw their way in the March Meltdown end-of-season tournament.

Two days later the Knights walked away as champions in a very convincing fashion, outscoring their opponents 41 to 6 over six games.

Mohawks blanked

The rout began Friday morning with a 6-0 win over the Meadowvale Mohawks.

Peter Mueller, Michael Critelli and Nat Bannister each scored two goals with David Paglia assisting on three of the goals. The defensive power of Eva Harrison, Noah Willis, Ben Wright and Paglia combined with the strong goaltending skills of Will Swanson to capture the first shutout of the tournament.

Draw with Markham

The afternoon game on Friday against the Markham Islanders ran smack into some questionable calls on both sides by an overzealous referee.  Facing a season high 11 penalties the Knights settled for a 4-4 tie despite outshooting the Islanders 24-12.  Goals by Bannister and Mueller were assisted by Kieran Purves, Sebastian Lisi, Wright, Harrison and Critelli.

Shutout win

Saturday dawned clear and problem free as the Knights resumed their strong play against the Halton Hills Thunder.

A goal from Matthew Siarkas, along with one from Purves and another two from each of Bannister and Critelli combined with a well-earned second tournament shutout from Swanson to push the Knights to another 6-0 victory.

The team's focus on passing really shone in this game with 11 assists being earned on the six goals by seven different players.  Brogan Grammenz, Paglia, Harrison, Critelli, Bannister, Mueller and Lisi all had their passes wind up in the back of the opponent's net.

Things got a little out of control on Saturday afternoon against the Erindale Spitfires when every Knights player notched either a goal or assist in an 11-0 lopsided victory.  Seven different Knights players scored and nine counted assists.

The cheering was loudest when defencewoman extraordinaire Eva Harrison netted her first of the season despite many earlier close calls. Shortly after, another defenceman Noah Willis added his second of the season to more fanfare. Grammenz, Lisi, Mueller, Bannister and Critelli rounded out the scoring.

More passing gave assist credit to three defence – Harrison, Paglia, and Wright. Other assists went to Siarkas, Purves, Bannister, Critelli, Lisi and Mueller. Although not tested often in this game, Swanson had to be sharp and on his toes to anchor his third shutout.

Thunder silenced

In the semi-finals, the winning ways continued in a rematch against the Halton Hills Thunder.

A 9-1 victory was augmented by the fact that every Knights player notched an assist with a total of 14 assists on the 9 goals. Campbell Carlisle and Vincent Di Cosola joined in on the action from the novice Knights with Di Cosola scoring to add to the total and Carlisle filling in on defence.

Final victory

The tournament finals against the Ted Reeve Thunder started off slowly with the Thunder scoring first to take an early lead.  The Knights quickly found their legs however and led 2-1 by the end of the first.

Never looking back, they carried on to a 5-1 final score and the tournament championship.

The Knights played as a solid team with the forwards back-checking strongly to help the defence and the defence scoring from the points or setting up goals.

Will “The Thrill” Swanson posted some very impressive results recording three shutouts in six games and achieving a GAA of 1.00 and a save percentage of 0.917.  Congratulations Knights!