U18 Wolves bring gold home from Midland

Head coach Devon Neudorf never would have predicted his Niagara-on-the-Lake Wolves U18 team would leave last weekend’s Bob Merkley Memorial Regional Silver Stick tournament in Midland with the championship. 

The local rep team went undefeated through five games in the three-day B-level tournament, topping their pool with two shutouts and a tie. They followed that with a 3-1 win in the semi-final against the Parry Sound Shamrocks Sunday morning, then bettered the South Muskoka Bears by the same score to take home the gold.

South Muskoka and Parry Sound were ranked numbers one and two provincially heading into the weekend. 

“I’m kind of at a loss for words to some degree,” Neudorf says. “I’m really proud of how the boys all stepped up and got the job done at the end of the day. There’s a lot of talent on this team and it really came down to the attitude and the effort that they came up with.”

Neudorf credits an all-around team performance for the weekend’s success. Those first two shutout games, 2-0 over the Norfolk Knights and 4-0 against the Penetang Flames, actually capped a string of five games, going back to their previous three Niagara District League wins, during which goaltenders Quinten Davis and Braden Sawyer did not give up a goal. 

“They were dominating wins,” says Neudorf. “The boys really controlled both of those games. We gave up maybe 20 shots against Norfolk, and maybe 15 against Penetang. We really locked down on defense, they really bought into doing all the little things right.”

Offensively, 11 members of the 19-man roster put points on the scoreboard during the weekend, with Dylan Price leading the way with five goals and two assists. Not only did Price lead the Wolves in goals and points but he also topped all tournament participants in both categories. 

“We say it often in the room and on the bench when we get into these tight games,” Neudorf says, “that we need everyone to get going. But there comes a point when you’re down a goal or tied, and you need your best players to be your best players. Dylan really did that, he brought his A-game all weekend.”

The Wolves faced off against South Muskoka in their third game and came out with a 3-3 tie Saturday night with Davis between the pipes. 

Davis backstopped them to a 3-1 victory in the semi-final Sunday morning, and Neudorf and his fellow coaches decided to keep him in net for the championship rematch with the Bears that afternoon, considering that he had already effectively faced the team in round robin play.

South Muskoka took an early 1-0 lead but Davis shut the door the rest of the way. Price found the net to tie it up, then Calo Zambito took a pass at the point from Devin Hunter and ripped a shot through a screen to beat the Bears’ goaltender. Zambito added an empty-net goal to seal the 3-1 victory and capture the trophy.. 

The victory qualifies the Wolves for the International Silver Stick Finals scheduled for January 5 to 7 in Forest, Ontario. By Monday afternoon Neudorf had already booked hotel rooms for the team for that weekend. 

“Niagara-on-the-Lake hasn’t won a Silver Stick since 2010-2011,” claims Neudorf. “That’s 13 years.”

For now, it’s back to Niagara District League play for the Wolves. They’ll try to extend their win streak in league play, if not their shutout streak as well, this Wednesday evening against Pelham at Virgil’s Meridian Credit Union Arena. 

And Neudorf feels their first trip away as a team has made them a better, more confident team, having removed the imposter syndrome they faced heading into a tournament against the province’s top-ranked programs. 

“It was an incredible weekend for the boys,” Neudorf concludes. “Not just on the ice,too. It was also great to come closer together as a group, everyone in the same hotel for the weekend. I know we can compete against anyone in the province, and we proved it this weekend..”