Three overtime wins in the playoffs at the OFSSA A/AA boy's high school hockey championships earned St. Michael Warriors their first provincial title.
The Warriors were just under six minutes away from the silver medal in St. Catharines, which would have been a fitting prize after a solid performance in their first ever trip to the provincial tournament.
Down four goals against the top ranked team, St. Mary's College from Sault. Ste. Marie, the Warriors dug deep, scoring four times in 5 minutes and 44 seconds.
"We were pretty down...but you can sit there and bow your heads or trust each other and keep building," said Mark Price, Warriors co-head coach with Bryson Filipetti. The teacher-coaches at St. Michael told the players to just get one goal and go from there.
Cody Bach did just that, opening the scoring in the championship, followed by Carter Petrie and Dominic Marshall. Two of those goals were on a four minute power play. After a St. Mary's College timeout, St. Michael pulled goaltender Aidan Hill with 1:55 left.
Isaac Nickel tipped in a shot from the point to force an extra frame.
Colin Slattery scored the tournament winning goal in overtime, for the 5-4 win.
"Colin is a fantastic goal scorer through and through," Price said of the Grade 10 student. "He scored a nice short-side goal at WOSSAA. In (the OFSAA final) he curled the dot and went short side again. I talked to him after the game, I said, 'man, that is your shot'."
By the final, playing an extra period had become a recurring theme for the Warriors, so there was no panic amongst the players.
"We had momentum," Price said.
Price said the Warriors' skill and speed was a good fit for the four-on-four overtime format, freeing up ice for the players. The Warriors entered the final after a pair of overtimes in elimination games - a 4-3 win over Denis Morris and 1-0 win over Paris in the final four.
"Honestly, in the quarters and semis we felt we were controlling the play...the message didn't change for the boys: play with structure, trust each other."
Rylan Hall scored the winner, with an assist from Carter Petrie, in the win over Paris.
Marshall, Nolan Miller, Vincent Voros and Bach, in overtime, scored against Denis Morris.
Price and Filipetti were able to play three solid lines with six defencemen throughout the tournament, with no worries about any drop-off.
Price said the coaches knew they had a good mix of players to start the season. The goal was to win Huron-Perth (another overtime victory) and "try and get out of WOSSAA". St. Michael beat London Clarke Road in the WOSSAA final.
There were no Grade 12 students on the final roster, so everyone could be back. The team held their own against bigger teams dominated by Grade 12 and 'victory lap' players.
"We had good expectations but never thought we would get that far," Price said. "We were young but we did a lot with our skill and speed. We told the guys, maybe one line won't score but the next one will. The guys bought in. They were truly a team."
The Warriors players, coaches, parents and fans enjoyed the moment as champions in St. Catharines.
Added Price: "The memories will last a lifetime for all of us."
