MONCTON, N.B.: The Basin Armada have captured the 2023 Monctonian Under-16 hockey championship.
After starting the tournament held at the Superior Propane Centre in Moncton with a loss, the Armada, which includes six players and a team manager from the Fall River/Windsor Junction area, won their next two games to put themselves into the semifinal.
Players Nate Boudreau of Fall River; Liam Conlon of Windsor Junction; Alex Damczyk of Fall River; Goalie Payson Stewart of Wellington; Trent Peveril of Fall River; and Equipment manager/assistant manager Daniel MacKenzie of Fall River make up the local content on the Armada.
In the semi-final, the Bedford-based team who plays in the N.S. Under-16 hockey league nipped the Moncton Thunderbirds with two second period goals to punch their ticket to the championship final.
Against CIHA Academy Voyageurs in the final, it was an unassisted double overtime winner that clinched the victory for the Armada and the 2023 Monctonian title.
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In the championship final, Chris Brill potted the winner at the 1:20 mark to send the Armada home with the championship over Rockland, Ont.-based CIHA Academy who went undefeated in round-robin play. Brill had an assist on a goal in regulation.
It was the CIHA Voyageurs only loss of the tournament.
Samuel Cowan scored twice, while Liam Conlon of Windsor Junction and Jack Thompson had single tallies.
Cowan, Brill, Jaxon Prior, Nick Kemp were credited with helpers in the victory.
Payson Stewart of Wellington stood tall in the Armada net giving his teammates a chance to win it.
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In the semifinal, second period goals 1:05 apart was the difference as the Armada edged the Thunderbirds 2-1.
Cowan and Thompson recorded the tallies for the winners, with assists to Peveril; Prior; and Brill.
Dylan Benautio earned the goaltending win in net.
During round robin play, the Armada started the Monctonian off with a 4-2 loss to the Voyageurs.
Conlon and Prior had the goals, while it was Stewart suffering the loss in goal.
Boudreau, Cowan, Mark Leslie, and Noah Maccallum-Stikes had the assists.
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In their second game, it was a 6-1 romp over the Valley Wildcats U-16 led by Maccallum-Stokes who had two goals and two assists.
Andrew Lynk notched a goal and a helper as well.
Single goals came from Brill, Cowan, and Damczyk of Fall River.
Conlon, Peveril, Kemp, Prior, and Nathan Turple contributed assists for the Armada.
Benautio had the win between the pipes.
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In the team’s third and final round robin game, the Dukes scored first but then the Armada reeled off five straight unanswered goals for the 5-1 win. Five different goal scorers turned the red light on behind the Dukes goalie.
Cowan, Prior, Kemp, Damczyk, and Owen Pitcher scored the goals.
Conlon and Brill each had two assists to lead that part of the game, while single helpers came from Maccallum-Stokes, Thompson, and Owen O’Leary.
Stewart of Wellington was superb in net for the victory.
