Fountain Tire wins long-awaited B hockey title, Bantam Mustangs take C
It took a few years, but the Fountain Tire rec hockey team has finally won its championship.
It took a few years, but the Fountain Tire rec hockey team has finally won its championship.
After finishing as runner-up in their championship matches the last three years, the club finally won the B division title last Thursday with a 7-3 win over ORC in a winner-take-all game.
Geoff Quinsey scored twice and added one assist, while Jeff Pike also netted a pair.
Chad Thomas and Jon Osborne each chipped in a goal and assist, while Darcy Carlick rounded out the scoring.
Jeremy Hookham scored twice, and Dan Johnson had one for ORC.
The one-game decision was in lieu of the scheduled three-game series. Both teams agreed to play a single game due to the second and third games falling on the Easter weekend.
"Most guys had plans for the weekend, and neither team would have had enough guys,鈥� explained Fountain Tire's Pike.
Fountain Tire finished the regular season with a first-place record of 23-7-2, and continued their winning ways in the playoffs, with a 4-1-1 record. Travis Rivest led the way in the postseason, with six goals and six assist to finish as the league's top scorer.
On the other hand, ORC finished fourth in the regular season, but found another gear in the playoffs.
But Fountain Tire had ORC's number all year, said Pike.
"It wasn't really close,鈥� he said of the championship game. "For whatever reason, we sort of ran away with every game against that team all year. They're obviously a good team 鈥� they made it to the finals 鈥� but the way that we matched up together, it worked out for us.
"We knew we had a pretty good chance to win,鈥� Pike added. "We tried to take it one game at a time, and stay in every game. It's funny, because we've lost our final game the last three years. So it was kind of a big deal to win it this year and get past that.鈥�
Fountain Tire has competed in the B division for the last two years.
Meanwhile, in the C division, the Bantam A Mustangs capped off an incredible year with a 6-4 win in Game 3 of their championship series over Castle Rock Sunday night.
Riley Smoler led the way with two goals and an assist 鈥� including a shorthanded dagger late in the game that put the game on ice.
Nick Dobush also had a pair of goals, Levi Johnson had a goal and assist, and Spencer Lessard scored to round out the Mustangs goals.
Derrick Bilodeau had two goals and an assist to lead Castle Rock, while Matt Brown and Dave Borud each had one.
It was a hard-fought, well-played playoff series, said Mustangs coach Barry Blisner, one that pitted the men against the boys.
The Mustangs took Game 1 by a score of 5-4 in overtime on Friday, but dropped Game 2 on Saturday 5-2.
"They were good games,鈥� Blisner said. "I thought it was a pretty good three-game final.
"Castle Rock has some older guys that are good hockey players, and they're still pretty smart. So I think it was kind of the opposite end of the spectrum that the rec league can get. We were trying to tell the guys, they may not look as fast, but they're a lot smarter.鈥�
The C division playoff win caps a spectacular season for the bantam club that included three tournament wins.
"If you can win your last game of the year, it means you're doing something right,鈥� Blisner said. "I think it was a big deal for the kids, especially coming off provincials where I don't think we put out as good a showing as we could of.鈥�
Johnson was the top playoff scorer with nine goals and 10 assists.
Be the first to comment