The Norwell Redmen Varsity Hockey Club has advanced to the AA CWOSSA regional tournament for the sixth consecutive season after completing a successful regular season and playoffs in District 4/10 high school hockey.
The Redmen will travel to Waterford for the six-team Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association event, beginning on March 3, with the hope of returning to the provincial championship tournament (OFSAA) for the first time since 2009.
The Redmen finished league play in fourth place out of 12 teams after compiling a 7-4-1 record in the regular season.
Norwell staged a dramatic comeback victory to open the playoffs in the quarterfinals versus Guelph St. James. After falling behind 4-0 after the first period, the Redmen came to life and rallied for three second-period goals to narrow the deficit.
Midway through the second, Cole Leslie scored on a feed from Brendon Aitken to open the assault on the St. James goal. Within a minute, Justin Schmidt found the back of the net assisted by Blair Butchart and Josh Scott. Leslie then scored late in the second period, assisted by Jason Joostema. In the third, a powerplay goal by Butchart from Aitken and Leigh Mercey tied the game with seven minutes to play.
Two minutes into overtime, Leslie stripped a St. James defenceman of the puck and fired a backhand past a surprised goaltender for the thrilling win.
Norwell outshot St. James 41-20 and earned a trip to the semi-final to face Erin. Finnish exchange student Tommi Ahlgren earned the victory in goal for the Redmen.
In the semi-final, the Redmen were slow out of the gate and surrendered a last-minute goal in the first period to trail 1-0 after one.
Norwell then fired 12 shots on goal in the second and eventually were rewarded, as Logan Hoelscher scored on a point shot assisted by Butchart to tie the game heading for the third period. Unfortunately the Redmen seemed to run out of gas in the third and surrendered four consecutive goals to an opportunistic Erin team. The final score was 5-1.
The Redmen have posted an overall record of 16-11-3 in four highly-competitive tournaments in addition to league play. The young Norwell team will have many players competing at CWOSSA for the first time.
Team officials wish the team best of luck.
submitted by Mark Israel, Norwell Redmen hockey
