Bantam Rangers capture Renous tournament championship banner

The Sackville Bantam Rangers won the Renous Whoopers Invitational Bantam C tournament held March 4-5 in Renous.

The team won both preliminary games by a score of 8-2 over the Sunny Corner Thunder and 7-1 against the host team. They earned the championship with a thrilling 5-4 shootout victory over the Thunder.

Sackville came out hard in the first game, establishing a 5-1 lead after the first period. Brendan Johnston scored a power play goal less than three minutes into the game with an assist to Sebastian Leblanc. This came after a series of shots by the Rangers.

Simon Bruce followed with an unassisted goal just a minute later. Some strong passing led to Robert MacQuarrie setting up Morgan Wells for a 3-0 lead. Johnston scored again with a quick shot from the face-off circle. Late in the period Mitchell Green passed ahead to Bruce, and he fed Leblanc for yet another goal.

In the second period, Johnston completed a hat trick with assists from Danika Acton and Wells.

Leblanc picked up his second of the game, on a great pass from Green, midway through the second. Devon Richards rounded out the scoring with an assist from Leblanc at 9:45. Sackville eased off in the third period, giving up one goal. They outshot the Thunder 23-22 and Caleb Silliker was named player of the game.

After a short rest before game two, the Rangers started a bit more tentatively against Renous. Bruce scored the first goal just over 10 minutes into the period, on a setup from Wells. Renous scored in the final minute of the period. Sackville stepped up play in the second period.

In a 30-second span, Bruce registered two more goals; the first came on assists from Green and Caleb Spencer, and the second was an unassisted effort.

With a 3-1 lead heading into the final frame, the Rangers pushed hard with four unanswered goals. Bruce passed to Leblanc who scored just 50 seconds into the period. Wells fired a shot from the corner that banked off the goalie for the fifth goal. Johnston picked up an assist. Johnston and Spencer each added unassisted goals for a 7-1 victory. Shots were 25-20 in favour of Sackville. Wells earned player of the game award.

The championship game was a completely different affair with Sunny Corner. The score was tied 1-1 after the first period, with Bruce scoring on an assist from Spencer.

Leblanc put the Rangers up 2-1 with an assist from Bruce less than two minutes into the second period, but the Thunder stormed back with the equalizer just nine seconds later. Spencer made it 3-2 midway in the period on a setup from Green and Leblanc.

Sunny Corner tied it in the last minute of the period, and grabbed a 4-3 lead early in the third. Bruce scored his second of the game at 7:54 to send the game into overtime.

The overtime period featured four-on-four play. Sackville took an unfortunate too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty but was able to kill it off.

With no goals, the game now went to a shootout. Sunny Corner outshot Sackville 22-12 for the game. The shootout featured three shooters each. Johnston and Leblanc were stopped on their initial shots, while Sunny Corner scored on one of their first three. Bruce was the final shooter and he scored to continue the shootout. MacQuarrie missed as the fourth shooter. Richards was the fifth shooter and he buried his attempt between the pads for the championship victory. Silliker was rewarded with his second player-of-the-game award.

In South East New Brunswick Hockey League Bantam C playoff action, the Rangers defeated Cumberland Canadian Tire 4-1 on home ice Sunday night. This upped their playoff record to three wins and no losses.

Sackville built a 2-0 lead in the first period with good passing and strong forechecking. Bruce opened the scoring at 4:12 with assists from Leblanc and Spencer. Moments later, Selena Estabrooks took a pass from Bruce at the top of the circle and fired a low hard wrist shot that beat the goalie on the glove side. Abbi Burns and Acton worked well together and created two good scoring chances on the rush. The Rangers fired 11 shots on goal.

Just one minute into the second period, Bruce made in 3-0 firing a hard shot with Johnston screening the goalie. McQuarrie picked up an assist. Jordan Hicks made a key defensive play late in the period.

Bruce completed a hat trick at 1:21 of the third, stealing a puck along the boards and ripping a low slap shot into the net. Cumberland scored a power play goal with 12 seconds remaining in the game to spoil Silliker's shutout bid. He made a number of key saves late in the second period and throughout the third period to keep Cumberland off the scoresheet.

The final shots were 24-19 in favour of the visitors.