Kitchener Jr. Rangers win South Bend Cup
The Jr. Rangers loaded up the bus and headed 9 hours to
South Bend, Indiana to participate in the 2012 South Bend Cup.
The first game saw the boys in a hard checking, intense hockey game against the Guelph Jr. Storm AA. The Rangers came flying out of the gates with goals from #88 Joel Penticost and #91 Chad Lacey to hold a 2-0 lead after the 1st period. Guelph did not back down and pushed back in the 2nd and 3rd frames to squeak out a 4-2 victory over the Rangers in an eye-opening tournament opener.
The second game of the evening came against the Motor City Machine. The Rangers came out of the gates flat and relied heavily on #1 Jared Lubczuk to keep them in the game. #22 Matt Courchesne provided a spark in the 2nd period with the game tying goal and #91 Chad Lacey followed that up with the go ahead goal late in the 2nd frame. The Rangers tightened up defensively and kept the house clean to pull out the 2-1 win.
The Rangers headed into day 2 with a record of 1-1-0 and knew they needed to finish with wins to advance to the finals. The first challenge was again the Motor City Machine. The boys came in with a gameplan: to outskate and out hustle the opposition. The speed and grit paid dividends as the Rangers doubled up the Machine 4-2 with goals from #16 Bobby Young, #88 Joel Penticost, #22 Matt Courchesne and #7 Alex De’Aragon as well as a solid performance between the pipes from #31 Brennan Hadad.
The 2nd game of the day was against another familiar foe in the Guelph Jr. Storm. With injuries to #9 Sam McCuaig, #66 Colton Bates, and #23 Caleb Wilbee, the Rangers played the whole game with a short bench. The Storm came up flying and peppered #1 Jared Lubczuk with shots but it was 0-0 after a period. The 2nd period had the Storm get on the board first, but #14 Graham Jansen got the monkey off his back andscored late in the 2nd frame to tie the game heading into the 3rd stanza. The boys stepped up, played through pain, fatigue and adversity and finally with a bullet shot #7 Alex De Aragon scored to put the Rangers up which they held on for a 2-1 win in what can be said the character win of the tournament.
With the scene set to play Guelph in the finals the boys went to the Notre Dame vs. Lake Superior hockey game to experience NCAA first hand. The boys enjoyed a well-deserved night off and were treated to a 5-1 Notre Dame victory. The next morning the Rangers toured the Notre Dame hockey facilities and really saw what top notch NCAA facilities are all about, it was a good way to start the championship day.
The boys showed up to the Culver Academy focused and ready for the tough Guelph Jr. Storm. The Ranger crowd didn’t disappoint as they greeted the boys with a rising ovation and chants that would rival NCAA rinks. The energy was remarkable. When the puck was dropped both teams came out swinging, but it was the Storm who got on the score sheet first. The Rangers picked up their game and scored 3 times in the first period (Jansen, Penticost, Courchesne) to take a 3-1 lead after the first frame. The intensity picked up in the 2nd period and the hit parade continued with punishing checks from #11 Matt Henhoeffer, #10 Ben Allen, #16 Bobby Young and #91 Chad Lacey. Any chance Guelph had in the 2nd was shut down by #31 Hadad. The Rangers kept the speed and intensity up into the 3rd period. The rangers put a forth past Guelph (Penticost) and the early celebration started. Kitchener and Guelph would exchange 2 goals each (Lacey, Bates). The final score was 6-3 in what some would call the most complete game played by the Rangers all season.
Many thanks to our parents for their continued support and electric energy they brought to the rink for the boys to feed off of. Another huge thanks to our many sponsors for making this incredible experience for the boys possible.
Go Rangers Go.