The Storm hit the road for their first tournament of the year 'in' Caledonia and after going 3-0 in Round Robin play fell 3-2 in a disappointing Semi Final game.
Mooretown had a tough schedule playing 4 games in 2 days in 3 different towns but put in dominant performances at times outscoring their opponents 18-6.
Game 1 - Mooretown 8 Hamilton 1
The Storm were in Cayuga for a noon start to take on Hamilton to kick off their tournament. Mooretown held a decisive edge in puck possession in the early going but it was Hamilton who would take the lead halfway through the 1st. The Storm would answer back before the end of the frame to square things going into the 2nd. The Storm scored on the first shift of the 2nd and never looked back dominating play the rest of the way. Mooretown put on a show with their puck movement and played a disciplined game taking only one minor penalty.
1st Period
5:08 - Hamilton
2:40 - Pepper (Hay)
2nd Period
9:40 - Gardner (Clements, Taylor)
4:44 - Hay (Gardner)
1:35 - Farr (Hay, Houle)
3rd Period
6:54 - Farr (unassisted) SH
6:10 - Gardner (MacDonald, Howard)
5:39 - MacDonald (unassisted) PP
2:47 - Nahmabin (Hay, Ashley)
Goaltender - Turner
Game 2 - Mooretown 4 Owen Sound 0
The Storm had the 8am game on Saturday morning, back in Cayuga, against the Owen Sound Attack. It was another game where the Storm carried the play but again took a while to start burying their chances. Cody Hitchcock stood tall in goal to earn the shutout. Mooretown would pop one home in the 1st and score three more in the 3rd to take the win. Again, with the puck spending most of its time on the Storms' sticks Mooretown took the play to the Attack and did not get whistled for a single penalty.
1st Period
6:02 - Hay (Farr, Adams)
2nd Period
no scoring
3rd Period
9:02 - Farr (Hay)
7:14 - Hay (Farr)
3:19 - Gardner (Clements)
Goaltender - Hitchcock
Game 3 - Mooretown 4 Caledonia 2
After a trip back to the hotel in Brantford for lunch the Storm continued to rack up the miles traveling to Hagersville to battle the tournament hosts, Caledonia Thunder. Caledonia took exception at times to the Storms' puck control and attempted grind it out but Mooretown showed that they could mix skill with sandpaper and beat the Thunder at their own game. The Storm led 1-0 after the 1st and then answered Caledonia's tying marker in the 2nd with two of their own. Mooretown went up by three in the 3rd before Caledonia scored a late goal to close out the scoring. Kaymond Turner was solid in net to backstop the Storm to the 1st Place Seed in Pool A and a trip to the Semi Finals.
1st Period
2:50 - Hay (Farr, Howard)
2nd Period
6:08 - Caledonia
5:56 - Hay (Pepper, Houle)
9:15 - Gardner (MacDonald, Farr) PP
3rd Period
7:36 - Farr (Gardner, Pepper) PP
2:16 - Caledonia
Goaltender - Turner
Game 4 - SemiFinal - Mooretown 2 Ayr 3
The Storm were back in action for the third time on Saturday to take on the Ayr Flames in the first Semi-Final Game. This time the venue was the Caledonia Arena making it 3 games in 3 towns and the fatigue would set in on the big ice as the Storm ran out of gas against an opportunistic Ayr squad. The Storm came hard out of the gates getting a breakaway on the first shift but as the game would unfold it would be the Ayr goaltender who would steal the show. Mooretown dominated in puck possession, again having no need to take a single penalty, but they were thwarted by some excellent goaltending and their own inability to put the game away early. The Storm would take the lead in the 2nd but Ayr would answer back quickly on a rebound goal. In the 3rd it looked as though the Storm would either finally breakthrough or see the game go in to OT. However, with just under four minutes left Ayr went ahead on a mass scramble around the Storm goal. Mooretown emptied their net for an extra attacker but a intercepted pass up the middle gave Ayr a 3-1 lead. With the goalie still out the Storm pulled back within one but ran out of time to get the equalizer. Based on the the tilt of the ice for the majority of the game it was tough to tell who was more shocked at the buzzer - Ayr at winning or the Storm at losing. While a bitter pill to swallow, with Ayr going on to win in the Final, the Storm displayed some great hockey and received a lot of compliments from opposing coaches, parents and players on the way they played the game.
1st Period
no scoring
2nd Period
7:44 - Hay (Adams, Farr)
7:20 - Ayr
3rd Period
3:53 - Ayr
0.27 - Ayr - EN
0.19 - Farr (unassisted)
Goaltender - Hitchcock