Bantams overcome shortstaffed bench to topple K-W Braves

The bantam Mavericks may have been severely short on players, but that didn't leave them with the short end of the stick in Wednesday's Zone 8 'C' championship.
Despite running with only about half as many players as the host Kitchener-Waterloo Braves, Milton had plenty left for the third period and subsequently prevailed 7-4.

"It was really like David vs. Goliath in terms of the numbers," said head coach Jim Welsh, referring to a 17-9 player advantage for the Braves, due to injuries suffered by Brandon Bodiam and J.R. Sanderson. "Our guys really had to give a big performance."

That effort started in the cage, with goalie Cory Early delivering a stellar showing to hold K-W snipers at bay down the stretch and give his teammates the opportunity to claim a fourth Zone 8 title for the local lacrosse ranks.

Milton scored four times in the third period -- including three within just a couple of minutes -- to put the Braves away. Bryden Curran and Oran Ferguson each tallied twice, with singles chipped in by Taylor Dredge, Kennan Peppiatt and Matt Psenicka.

Dylan Clancy completes the bantams' goaltending tandem, while Lucas Jensen, Quinn Kerr, Warren Mitchell and Mitchell Rushton round out the newly-crowned zone champs, who'll try to add a provincial medal to their hardware collection this weekend at the OLA 'C' championships in St. Catharines.

NOVICES TAKE ZONE 'D' CROWN

Meanwhile, the novice Mavericks pulled out their Zone 8 'D' title victory last week at John Tonelli Sports Centre.

Another standout performance from season-long fireplug Austin Redding -- who led with three goals and two assists -- and a fundamentally-sound effort from the entire lineup gave Milton a 5-3 decision over the visiting Arthur Aces.

Tyler Townsend sank the eventual game winner early in the third period, burying one upstairs following a thunderous check turnover by loose-ball specialist Grant Belanger and a nifty set-up from Redding.

Arthur would draw within a goal in the final minute-and-a-half of play, but just couldn't pot another against an especially sharp Bailey Brown.

Contributing a goal and three helpers to the championship win was Kyle Kaldenbach, while Jake Wickware chipped in two assists and some strong defence.

The novices went 1-2 at last weekend's double-knockout OLA 'D' championships in Whitby, with their one victory coming in a 10-5 decision over the hosts. This second-round win was sandwiched between 5-1 and 7-3 losses to Cornwall and St. Catharines respectively.

Making up the rest of the team were Cole Bertasson, Rylee Buckle, Caleb Dredge, Will Hamilton, Mac Mazzacato, Chris Pellow, Austin Roe, David Scarfone, Dalton Sherman and Justin Turner.