Wolves teams vie for medals on day three of their March Break tournament

Excitement reached its peak at the arenas in Virgil this weekend as three Niagara-on-the-Lake Wolves teams made runs at their respective championships in their annual March Break tournament.

NOTL's U9 Local League team finished 2-1 in the round-robin phase, good for second in their five-team division, with wins against Lawfield on Friday and West London on Saturday. Their loss came against the first-place team, Soo LBMX, whom they would meet again in the championship game. 

They gave it a good fight in Saturday morning's championship game, but Soo, whose goal differential over their four tournament games was 48-2, was clearly the class of the division. The Wolves suffered an 11-0 loss and settled for silver medals. 

In the U9-Minor Development division, where there were six teams, NOTL placed second in their group of three, with two losses and a tie in their round-robin phase. That was good enough for them to qualify for a semi-final game against  Burford, who finished 1-1-1 to top the group. Burford won the game 4-1, eliminating NOTL, and went on to lose the championship contest to Innisfil, 2-1.

NOTL had two teams competing in the U18 Local League division this weekend, both of whom had 2-1 records in the round-robin and placed second in their respective four-team groups. 

Team Two faced the Valley East Ice Dogs in their semi-final and were eliminated with a 4-2 loss. 

Team One took on the rival Thorold Blackhawks in their semi-final. The Blackhawks score the game's first goal in the first period, but the Wolves responded with two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead. Thorold tied it up at 2-2 in the second period, and both teams went scoreless in the third, forcing overtime. After a scoreless extra period, it went to a shootout, with NOTL winning in thrilling fashion to earn their chance to take on the Ice Dogs in the 5:30 p.m. title game.

The two teams battled back and forth over a scoreless first period, with each having several chances. The Wolves netted the first goal early in the second and kept the Ice Dogs from replying until six minutes later. Then Valley East scored two more in the last three minutes, including one on a power play, to take a 3-1 lead heading into the third. 

They opened the final period with two more goals, including another power play goal, and the Wolves closed the gap with a thrilling shorthanded goal, but it was too little, too late, as they settled for the silver with a 5-2 loss.

Wolves teams in the U11, U13 and U15 age divisions were all wrapping up their round-robin stages Sunday. 

The March Break tournament continues Monday with the U11, U13 and U15 championships all scheduled for this afternoon.