Two Huron Heat teams win tournament gold in Buffalo

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Last weekend, two of the three Huron Heat teams that crossed the border for tournament play in Buffalo, New York came back to Canada with gold medals around their necks, besting their American competition.

 

The U13 A Heat team went undefeated in the tournament on their way to victory, first beating the Mooretown Lady Flags on Friday morning by a score of 7-0, followed by a 6-2 win over the Burlington Barracudas.

 

The next morning, bright and early, the team beat the Potomac Lady Patriots by a score of 8-0, followed by a 5-0 shutout victory over the North Halton Twisters later that evening.

 

The Heat’s run culminated on Sunday afternoon with a 4-0 victory over the Burlington Barracudas in the championship game to earn gold for the local young women.

 

The U18 BB Heat also found victory in Buffalo, beginning with a 1-1 tie with Gilmour on Friday afternoon, followed by a 2-1 loss to the Barrie Sharks that night.

 

The next day, the locals lost to the Scarborough Sharks by a score of 2-0, extending their losing streak against Shark-named teams to two, but bounced back with a Saturday night win over the Brampton Canadettes by a score of 4-0.

 

The team then met Gilmour again in the finals and won to bring home the gold, though a score for that final game was unavailable at press time.

 

The third team to travel south was the U15 A Heat, which opened its tournament with a 2-2 tie with the North Bay Junior Lakers on Friday morning, followed by a 3-1 win over the Mooretown Lady Flags. The next day, the team beat the Oswego Lady Buccaneers by a score of 3-1 in their only game of the day, leading to championship round play on Sunday. That morning, however, the team fell to the Flamborough Falcons by a score of 2-1, ending the tournament for the Heat.

 

In more localized play on Sunday, Feb. 9, the U15 B Heat tied the St. Marys Rock at three in their playoff game, while the U13 C Heat ended their game with the St. Thomas Panthers, both in Clinton, in a scoreless tie.

 

In Brussels, the U13 B Heat ended their playdown with the St. Marys Rock tied at one, while the U13 HL Heat beat the Central Perth Predators in their playoff game by a score of 2-1.

 

The U11 C Heat tied their playdown with the South Huron Sabres in Hensall at one and the U15 B Heat lost their playoff game to the Central Perth Predators on the road by a score of 4-1. 

 

Also that day, the U9 B Heat hosted the Grand River Mustangs in Clinton, the U9 HL team played the Panthers in St. Thomas, the U9 B Heat played the Lambton Attack on the road and the U11 A Heat played the Lambeth Lancers on the road, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

 

In playoff action on Saturday, Feb. 8, the U11 C Heat lost to the Devilettes in London by a score of 3-0, while the U11 HL Heat beat the Lucan Irish by a score of 1-0 on the road, the U13 C Heat beat the Panthers in St. Thomas by a score of 1-0 and the U13 B Heat tied the Rams in Mount Forest at one.

 

In regular season action, the U9 C Heat beat the South Huron Sabres on the road by a score of 8-2. The U7 team played the Devilettes in London and the U11 A Heat played the Bluewater Hawks on the road, but scores were not available for those games at press time, and the Senior team was scheduled to host the Twin Centre Hericanes in Clinton, but that game was cancelled.

 

On Friday, Feb. 7, the U11 HL Heat tied their playoff game with the Lucan Irish in Blyth at one, while the U9 B Heat beat the Lambton Attack in Hensall by a score of 5-2 in regular season action. The Senior C team played Belmore on the road that night as well, but a score for that game was unavailable at press time.

 

Back on Tuesday, Feb. 4, the U11 C Heat won its playdown with the Central Perth Predators in Seaforth by a score of 5-0 while, one day earlier, the U13 C Heat won its playoff game with the Wildcats in Woodstock by a score of 1-0.

 

On Feb. 11, the U13 C Heat hosted a playdown with the St. Marys Rock in Brussels and the U9 B Heat played the Wolverines in Wilmot. The next night, the U13 A Heat was scheduled to play the London Devilettes on the road and the U18 C Heat had a playdown with the Upper Maitland Mustangs on the schedule, followed by Feb. 13 playoff games between the U18 C Heat and the Lucan Irish in Blyth and the U13 C Heat and the Central Perth Predators on the road, but scores for those games were unavailable at press time.

 

Over the Family Day weekend, the Huron Heat will host its Bring the Heat tournament in Seaforth for U11 teams. The U11 C and U11 HL Heat teams will be taking part, in addition to hosting.

 

On Saturday, Feb. 15, the U13 B Heat will play a playoff game with the Central Perth Predators on the road and the U13 C Heat will host a playdown with the Stratford Aces in Blyth and the playoffs will continue for the U18 C Heat in Lucan with a game with the Irish.

 

In regular season action that day, the U15 A Heat will play the Chatham Crush and the U9 C and U9 HL Heat teams will play a pair of St. Marys Rock teams.

 

On Sunday, Feb. 16, in local playoff action, the U13 B Heat will play the Kinucks in Kincardine, the U13 HL Heat will play Lucan/Ilderton in Brussels, the U18 C Heat will play the B.A.D. Blazers in Seaforth and the Senior team will play Seaforth on the road. In regular season action that day, the U15 A heat will host the South Huron Sabres in Clinton, the U9 B Heat will play the Waterloo Ravens in Brussels and the U13 A Heat will play the London Devilettes in Clinton.

 

On Family Day Monday, the U18 BB Heat will play the Aces in Stratford and the U15 B Heat will play the St. Marys Rock on the road, both are playdown games.

 

The next day, the U15 B Heat will host a playdown with the St. Marys Rock and the U13 A Heat will host a playoff game with the South Huron Sabres, both in Seaforth.

 

On Feb. 19, the U13 A Heat will play the South Huron Sabres on the road in regular season action, followed by three Feb. 20 playoff games: the U13 B Heat will take on the Central Perth Predators in Blyth, the U13 HL Heat will play the Central Perth Predators on the road and the U15 C Heat will play the Devilettes in London.

 

Then, on the weekend of Feb. 21-23, the U15 B Heat will head to Brantford to take part in the annual Walter Gretzky Tournament, opening with Friday games with the Hamilton Hawks and host Brantford Ice Cats, while the U9 B Heat will head to Oakville for the annual Survive the Hive tournament that weekend.