Glades U-18 Team Clinch Playoff Berth with Sweep of Warriors!

Glades U-18 Team Clinch Playoff Berth with Sweep of Warriors!

The Glades U-18 Team clinched a postseason berth this past weekend after sweeping the visiting Valley Jr. Warriors. The Glades also extended their latest win streak to four games and moved into a tie for fourth place within the Eastern Conference.

The Glades started the weekend off with an explosion of offense. The visiting Warriors took a few wrong turns in their trip up to Vermont and showed up about 30 minutes before the puck dropped. The Glades used this to their advantage and quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the period. It was Finnish power forward Eric Niskanen who got the Glades going about half way through the first. He netted the game’s first goal with assists going to Paul Scott and Brendan Boyce. Less than two minutes later Chris Gratton put the Glades up by two with the assist going to Dillon Black. Gary Neill continued his hot streak adding a goal with under five minutes to play in the opening frame. Gratton received the helper on the play. The Glades left their stellar play in the locker room however as they got out played in the second period. Mark Woinicki put the Glades up by four but it was the Warriors who struck back scoring the next two goals. The Glades went from what could have been an easy coast to a victory to all of a sudden in battle for league points. Gratton made no mistake on a great second effort in front of the net to score his second Power play goal of the game just five minutes into the final frame. Neill received an assist on the play. The Warriors struck back about four minutes later but Neill added a little insurance on a short handed goal, which was assisted by fellow Michigan forward Paul Scott. The Glades went on to a 6-3 victory in what proved to be an up and down contest.

Sunday’s contest started off a little different in that it was the Warriors who jumped out to an early lead. The lead did not last long though, as Brandon Hughes evened the score through hard work and driving hard to the net. Sam Mattson assisted on the play. The Glades remained patient and got a beautiful Power Play goal. Gratton made a great pass down to Neill who showed great patience with his back to the goaltender. Looking for an outlet he found Essex Junction native Bryce Currier streaking to the net. Neill made a great pass, and hit Currier mid stride, who made no mistake finding the back of the net. The Glades again remained patient and were rewarded half way through the second as Paul Scott notched a goal to put the Glades up by two. Fellow line mates Brendan Boyce and Eric Niskanen both assisted on the play. Less than 30 seconds later Brad Smeltsor found some success in hitting the net with a point shot. A quick low snapshot had eyes of its own as it passed through a crowd of players and eventually between the legs of the Warriors goaltender. This would conclude the scoring for the game as the Warriors became frustrated and started getting a little chippy. The Glades lost some discipline through the final frame and continued to go to the box with the Warriors. 

A couple areas of concern for the Glades was their lack of discipline in crucial situations and their lack in adapting to the game. The Glades lost two Power Plays due to taking a penalty behind the play, plus they were warned to move away from the stick work, which they failed to do. At the end of the day the Glades took too many sticking penalties to compete with top level teams. If they do not make adjustments they will learn the hard way. 

A couple notes: The Glades moved into a tie for fourth place with one game in hand and five games left to play. The Glades Special teams were very good again this past weekend as they did not surrender one Power Play goal against and their own Power Play scored 4 goals throughout the weekend.