A 1-0 home ice win over crosstown rival North Delta A2 Sundemons has earned the South Delta Bantam A3 Storm the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association Bantam rep President's Series playoff championship.
Team assist leader Carter Warn tipped in a shot from Aiden Lauinger with less than two minutes left in the game to break a scoreless tie.
The Storm entered the game having won two of their previous three games and needing a win to take a three point lead in the round robin standings. They had a strong regular season, finishing one-point out of first place and were looking to finish the year with some playoff hardware.
The game was a gritty, but clean affair. The Storm's starting line of Cory McIver, Jamil Walji and Cam Thompson set the tone with a fast paced, hard-hitting opening shift. The Storm's five-man defensive unit, including Liam Breault and Nathan Simms, kept North Delta's scoring opportunities to a minimum. Goaltender Kris Hothi, making his 27th start of the season, stopped everything else that got through.
Aggressive Storm forechecking to start the second provided some momentum for the home team.
But a pair of penalties gave North Delta a golden opportunity with a 55 second 5-on-3. Strong penalty killing by forwards Hayden Iremonger, Walji and defensemen Zack Vaughan and Spencer Richardson thwarted every opportunity North Delta could muster
The third period was a carbon copy of the first two, with tight checking and few good chances. When the Storm needed additional inspiration, they looked into the stands to see their crushing defenseman Wes Haklander with his arm in a sling unable to play, sidelined by a dryland shoulder separation.
Repeated counter-attacks by the line of Ethan MacLellan, Jared Garcha and Andrew Bennett continued to set the tone. When North Delta took a stretch-pass out of their zone and appeared set for a breakaway, defenseman Connor Sagert stopped his opponent in his tracks with a solid body check.
With the game appearing to be headed for a tie, South Delta's other starting goalie, Justin Smith, (who had accounted for half the team's playoff wins entering that night), encouraged his forwards to get more traffic in front of the North Delta crease.
Then, with two minutes remaining, team captain Richardson gobbled up the puck in his own zone and rushed end-to-end.
Circling near the net, his cross ice pass found Lauinger high on the half-boards. Lauinger's shot and the resulting tip-in from Warn provided the only scoring of the game. The Sundemons pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, but the Storm closed out the last 1: 40 of the game with tight, systematic defense.
This was the inaugural season for the Bantam A3 Storm. South Delta has never fielded an A3 team in any age group. The group was coached by Andrew Richardson, along with assistants Aaron MacLellan, Doug McIver, Ken Simms and Trevor Smith. The team was expertly managed all season by Laurel Richardson.
