U13 Terra Vista Kings forward Antonio Auciello scores late in the third period to seal his team’s 4-3 win Sunday March 9. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
One Prince Edward County Minor Hockey Association club has qualified for the 2024 provincial championship and another is tantalizingly close to doing the same this evening.
The U13 Terra Vista Kings made short work of the Brighton Bolts earlier this month, sweeping a two game set to punch their ticket to the Ontario Minor Hockey Association Tier 3 Championships in Halton Hills April 3-5.
By virtue of their 8-2 record over the 2024 OMHA Playoff round, the Kings drew a date with the Bolts who were the only team to best the Kings over the month-long playoff grind.
But it was Terra Vista getting the last laugh, engineering a pair of one goal victories over the opposition from Brighton.
On March 7, the Kings outlasted the host Bolts 7-6. Hudson Scanlon and Connor Simmons each tallied twice while Antonio Aucilello, Nathan Howe and Ryker Ivanic all fired singles.
Will Prinzen (2), Rylan Harris, Sam Thompson, Mr. Simmons, Tristan Grant and Bane Baverstock-Wood added helpers. Ben Kelly picked up the win in the Kings cage.
Just two days later in front of a raucous home crowd at Lehigh Arena, the Kings were able to pull ahead and stay in front of the Bolts thanks to a strong second period and a key insurance goal in the late going.
A total of 16 seconds after Brighton opened the scoring, the Kings marched up the ice and it was Mr. Simmons converting a Mr. Howe feed at 13:17 to square the affair at 1-1.
The Kings would jump into the driver seat at 7:41 mark as Mr. Scanlon temporarily broke the deadlock thanks to a Mr. Prinzen pass. Jasper Quaiff also picked up an assist on the play.
But the Bolts quickly came back on the Kings and potted an equalizer just 37 seconds later.
In the second, Terra Vista pulled ahead to stay as Mr. Scanlon blasted a go-ahead goal at the 9:39 mark.
Mr. Simmons picked up a helper on the scoring play.
Up 3-2 deep into the final stanza, Mr. Baverstock-Wood hit a streaking Mr. Auciello at mid ice and the forward burst to the goal line, putting a back hand effort into the Brighton net with 4:49 left in the contest.
Brighton would pull their netminder and score with a dozen seconds left to draw within a goal but the Kings held on to sweep the two game series.
The U15 Heidelberg Materials Kings are hopeful their playoff series matches that of their U13 counterparts and, through Game 1, the best of three set was sticking to the script.
On March 13, the Kings travelled to Brighton and were rewarded for a strong defensive effort.
The Bolts opened the scoring in the first period, beating Kings netminder Ross Martin with 45 seconds left in the opening stanza. From there, Mr. Martin was rock solid for the Kings.
Heidelberg Materials would respond in the middle frame as Trent Bucknell found Jake Goad and the West Lake product made no mistake, lighting the lamp at 8:17 mark.
Both teams were sound on defence and the game needed overtime.
Off the opening draw in the extra session, Wyatt Kingsley collected a muffed draw and quickly gained the Brighton zone.
With a deft move, Mr. Kingsley picked the open corner of the Brighton net just seven seconds into overtime to lift his squad to a Game 1 win.
The Kings and Bolts meet for Game 2 tonight at the Prince Edward Community Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
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