MINOR NOVICE WHITE: 2016 CHAMPIONS OF LEASIDE
Minor Novice White: 2016 Champions of Leaside Select Tournament
Congratulations to the Minor Novice Knights White team coached by George Rossolatos, Marshall Matias and Dan Givelas who defeated Hillcrest Village 3-2 in dramatic fashion to win the White Division of the 2016 Leaside Select Invitational Tournament held on February 5-7th.
The Round Robin tournament started strongly for the team with a solid 4-1 victory over the Hillcrest Village team on Friday. On Saturday the White Knights had to play against two very strong teams: early in the morning versus North Toronto White and a second game in the afternoon against the Willowdale Blackhawks. The first game was a superb defensive battle and ended in a highly unusual scoreless tie as both Knights goaltenders used in the game put on an incredible display of athleticism and determination. In the afternoon a closely fought game against Willowdale ended in a 3-2 win. The team followed instructions carefully and used team speed, tenacious backchecking and forechecking, timely scoring and superb goaltending to beat this strong opponent and accede to the Sunday final having gone undefeated (2-0-1) in the Round Robin.
On Sunday morning, the White Knights knew that they had a challenge ahead as they would face the Hillcrest Village team that was vowing to avenge their loss to the Knights earlier in the tournament. The early morning game had many exciting moments with missed scoring opportunities at both ends of the ice as the goaltenders were determined to keep their teams in the game. Hillcrest had slowly but surely eked out a 2-1 lead with under 5 minutes left in the game and were poised to celebrate. But this Knights team would not be denied in the face of this adversity. With less than 4 minutes left in the game, the Knights scored a brilliant goal to tie the game. With parents and siblings cheering on wildly, the Knights mounted a final attack and scored a goal with 50 seconds left in the game to record an amazing comeback win! Congratulations to Coach George, Marshall and Dan and all the players on the Minor Novice White team for a great display of determination and quality Knights hockey!