Squirts: On Sunday, March 12, the Gladiator Squirts opened the playoffs with a loss to the WHK Hawks 5-1. After a back-and-forth scoreless first period, the Hawks opened the scoring with two goals in the second for a 2-0 lead. The Hawks continued the offensive attack in the third, extending the lead to 5-0 before the Gladiators got their lone goal of the game from Brayden Cannon on a pass from Liz Kilpatrick to bring the score to 5-1. In net, Ryan Killion stopped 18 shots.
On Saturday, March 18, the Squirts offensive attack woke up with a 9-1 win over Canton to even their playoff record to 1-1. In net, Killion stopped 21 of 22 shots. On offense, Patrick Duggan got the Gladiators going in the first on a pass from Cannon. Mike Brown followed it up with a goal from the point on a pass from Kilpatrick to close out the first with a 2-0 lead. In the second period, Cannon, Patrick Tripp and Tommy Clavell each scored to extend the lead to 5-1 after two periods. The third period offense was led by two goals from Clavell, one from Cannon and one from Brayden Hathon.
On Sunday, the Squirts continued the playoffs with win No. 2 over Walpole Express, 4-1. The Gladiators, supported by the strong defensive play of Brown, Tripp, John Goll, and Bree Killion, dominated the entire game. In net, R. Killion was stellar, stopping 23 of 24 shots. The offensive attack was balanced with Clavell scoring two goals on passes from Kilpatrick and Hathon in the first. Duggan scored on a pass from Kilpatrick early in the second to extend the lead to 3-0. Kilpatrick added a late goal in the second on a penalty shot with a slick move drawing the goalie to the right while pulling the puck around and finding the back of the empty net. The final 4-1 score was a total team effort with the team playing its best hockey of the season.
Pee Wees: Gateway Gladiator Pee Wees faced off against the South Coast Stars on Saturday in their second week of Yankee Conference Playoff action. Gateway opened the game with five unanswered goals to start the first period. Scorers were Ty Rebeiro assisted by Brady Kidney, Sean Pollock assisted by Matthew Paling, Rebeiro assisted by Jacob Hebbel and Matthew Stone, an unassisted goal from Paling, and Rebeiro securing a hat trick with an assist from Lucy Murphy. In the second period, the game tightened up with strong defense from Lucas Demoranville and Thomas Leger and strong effort from Connor Macleod helping to get the puck to the net. In the final frame, Rebeiro was able to score his fourth goal of the game with assist from Joe Urnek, making the final score of the game 6-0. Goalie Ryker King made a number of key saves to shut down the Stars throughout the game.
The Pee Wees’ next playoff game will be on Saturday, March 25 at 6:40 pm at Pembroke.