The Sarnia Bantam Pacers traveled the Milton, ON this past weekend to compete in the Milton Mavericks Invitational Tournament and the players did not disappoint their fans successfully defending their 2017 tournament win with another 2018 Tournament Championship Win!
The Bantam Pacers hit the floor Friday night looking to win the Invitational Tournament for the 2nd time in 2 years and began play against the Newmarket Redbirds. Already shorthanded the injury bug would bite the Pacers early in the 2nd period, however a determined group would begin the tournament with a 4-4 tie on scoring from Graham Armstrong (2), Nolan Cadieux and Brett Vince.
Saturday morning brought with it a chance to get in the win column and the Pacers did not disappoint, building a 6-2 lead in the 3rd period before holding on to beat the Toronto Beaches 6-5. Balanced team scoring had Cadieux with 3, Armstrong with 2 and Victor Tang netting a single goal to secure the win.
Next up the Pacers would close out round-robin play against the host Milton Mavericks needing a win to secure a birth in the tournament semi-finals. In a game that saw every rostered player notch points the Pacers would prevail 17-3. Again, scoring was spread across the roster with Brett Vince, Graham Armstrong, Cole Riddell and Konnor Adams picking up singles, Victor Tang and Cody Martin notching a pair each, Landen Hookey with 4 goals and Cadieux rounding out the scoring with 5.
In their 3rd game in 8 hours the Pacers jumped across town to the John Tonelli Sports Arena to face off against the Owen Sound Northmen in the days first semi-final. Early on, tight defense and exceptional loose ball play kept the game close until the Pacers scored 5 unanswered goals in the 2nd period to take a commanding 7-1 lead. The chippy affair would end in an 11-2 Pacers win. Nolan Cadieux notched 3 goals, while Landen Hookey and Victor Tang would each score a pair and singles went to Vince, Teison McGregor, Riddell and Adams.
Sunday morning saw the Pacers line-up in a re-match against the Toronto Beaches. In a high scoring affair Aiden Foster stood tall in net facing the most rubber he had seen all weekend. A determined effort from the entire line up to put the team first, sacrificing personal stats for a team win ensured at the final buzzer the Pacers could stand victorious with a 10-7 win. Loose balls were again a focal point and lead to many of the Pacers goals. Digging deep Brett Vince and Victor Tang each found the back of the net twice with single goals going to Jason Bacchus, Landen Hookey, Graham Armstrong, Cole Riddell, Konnor Adams and Nolan Cadieux.
(From Left to Right) 1st Row - Keagan Smith, Graham Armstrong, Victor Tang, Nolan Cadieux, Cody Martin, Teison McGregor.
2nd Row - Keogh Scott, Cole Riddell, Aiden Foster, Jason Bacchus, Landen Hookey, Tanner Hull, Konnor Adams, Owen MacDonald, Brett Vince
The Bantam Pacers look to build on two straight tournament wins as they resume league play next Tuesday night at the Clearwater Arena against the London Blue Devils. Game time is set for 8pm.