April 11, 2013 · 0 Comments
The TNT Minor Atom AA team ended their quest for an OMHA championship with a loss to the Belle River Jr. Canadiens on Sunday, March 21, in game four of a tight final series at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre in Alliston.
The two highly competitive teams met for the championship round in Belle River for the first two games on March 16 and 17.
The TNT squad knew they were up against a tough team with Belle River going 12–0–1 for the regular season scoring 108 goals while allowing 21 against.
The Tornados won game one, 4–1 to take an early lead series.
A loss in the game two split the series at one game each for the return to Alliston and a mid afternoon game on Saturday, March 20.
TNT’s Steven Mercer opened the scoring for the Tornados in the first period and the hometown team went into the second period with a single goal deficit.
Belle River scored twice in the second period, but the TNT squad tied it up on goals from Wylie Birkett with two, and a single from Mitch Smilsky.
The third period saw Belle River get the edge with three more in the final frame to take the game 7–4 and set the stage for game four of the series the following day.
A scoreless first period in game four led to a second frame that saw the visitors gain a two goal lead.
The only TNT goal came from Cole Turcotte to light up the board for the Tornados.
The third period also came up short for both teams and Belle River captured the title with a 3–1 final game.
The Tornados earned the right to go to the finals after a semi-final win over Kingston.
By Brian Lockhart