Patience. Persistance. Hard work. Those are just a few of the characteristic traits the Novice AE team has continued since the beginning of the season, and what has kept them alive in a nail biting road to the OMHA Finals!!
Sweeping the qualifying round with 8 straight wins, the Novice AE Thunder moved on to quarter finals against Orangeville, only to win 3 straight to move to semi finals against Milton.
After losing the first 2 games to the Milton Winterhawks, the Thunder faced elimination in game #3. In front of a packed home crowd, Novice AE Thunder let Milton know they were not going down without a fight!! Weather warnings should have been posted that night for severe Thunderstorms as the Novice AE hit the ice hard scoring 3 unanswered goals in the first period, and continuing with 3 more in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd, dominating the game to win 8-2.
Moving to game #4, Milton still only needed a win to move on, but the Thunder stayed alive again with a 1-1 tie. Game #5 began looking like the Thunder was rolling away as Milton took an early 2-0 lead. But, the characteristic traits that led the team to success all season long came out to have the Thunder win 3-2, sending the series to game #6.
Dominating in the Milton end most of the game, the Novice AE looked like they were on the road to victory with a 3-1 lead....but Milton wasn't going down easy and tied the game sending it to overtime! After some very tense moments in front of both goalies, Thunder broke out of the pack and sailed down the ice for the game winning goal to send the Novice AE Thunder to the OMHA Finals against Markham!
Players on both teams should be commended for their determination on the ice every game. Thanks for a great series Milton!