Optometrists on Broadway U11s win Max Partlo Memorial gold medals
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The Tillsonburg Tornadoes U11 LL1 hockey team had to dig deep to win the 2024 Max Partlo Memorial Hockey Tournament, Feb. 16-18 in Tillsonburg.
The Optometrists on Broadway Tornadoes went 2-0-1 in the round-robin, defeating Tavistock and Delhi to finish on top of the A pool.
“Our starting goalie (Jethro Thiessen) was away,” said team manager Falon Kraak. “He was on vacation.”
Thiessen was able to play the first game on Feb. 16 tying Erin Hillsburgh, but the Tornadoes needed to find an alternate goalie for the rest of the tournament.
“One of our defencemen (Bennett Kocheff) volunteered… and he had never played goalie before,” said Kraak. “It was pretty remarkable.”
In the Sunday morning semifinals, the Tornadoes were trailing Aylmer 3-2 with less than five minutes left to play.
“They turned it up a notch and scored two quick goals. Then for the last three minutes played really hard to keep the lead.”
A 4-3 win propelled the Tornadoes into the finals against Tavistock, who took an early 2-0 lead in the championship game. Tillsonburg replied with three goals to take a 3-2 lead, but Tavistock tied it late in the game.
The teams went into a two-vs-two overtime (plus goalies), and each team had two shots before the Tornadoes won it on a Tyler Crossett rebound goal.
“They were so excited,” said Kraak. “We’ve been to two other tournaments and we’d get to the semifinals… always so close. Then they pulled it off – and without our regular goalie. The heart of this group this whole season, and the growth, has been pretty remarkable to watch.”
Going into the Max Partlo Memorial Tournament, the Optometrists on Broadway U11s were 11-10-3 in Southern Counties, Kraak said, and fighting for potentially the last spot in the playoffs.
“They’ve been so close all year. It’s always one or two-goal games, whether we’re winning or losing. It’s never boring, that’s for sure.”
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