NISIC Recap
by Mike Annese
The St Michael’s Majors took part in the National Independent School Invitational Tournament from March 8th through 11th. The tournament included 12 teams from across eastern Canada and the Majors played in 6 games over 4 days.
The Majors first two games were seeding games that were held at St. Michael’s College. The atmosphere was great as the TV lights brightened up the ice surface, fans filled the arena and the drumline played the entire game adding to the team’s momentum. Before the game the senior players were acknowledged and their parents were walked out on the ice surface and presented with a rose. St. Michael’s College was too much for College St. Louis from Quebec City to handle. The final score was 9-2 in favour of the Majors.
The next game against Kings Edgehill Academy from New Brunswick was held at St. Michael’s. The Majors were once again victorious – this time the final score was 6-1.
The Majors were reseeded after the preliminarily round and moved up from ninth to eighth. This meant they would face Saint Andrews College’s second team in the next game. A win would move them on to the quarter finals. Once again students filled the rink and the drumline added energy. The game was another high scoring affair with the Majors winning 10-4.
Next up was Ridley College in the Quarter-finals. The game could have gone either way as it was tied 2-2 with less than 5 minutes left in the third period. Ridley ended up getting the edge with a third and fourth goal and the final score was 4 to 2. With the loss the Majors were moved to the Consolation bracket and had to face Ulysse Academy in the Semi-final.
Ulysse had a tough tournament with two exciting overtime games against UCC the other against SAC. St. Michael’s played this one at home and it would be the final time the senior players on the team would get to wear the Majors jersey on home ice and you could tell it meant a lot to them. This was the highest scoring game the Majors took part in all season as neither team backed down. Even though Ulysse was down buy a few goals early they did not quit. The final score was 9 to 6 and with the win the Majors moved on to the Consolation Championship.
The sixth and final game was against Rothesay Netherwood out of New Brunswick. The Majors bench was short with only 11 skaters as the six games had taken a toll on the team. The game was exciting as both teams wanted the win. At the end of regulation, the game was tied 1-1. Goalie Mark Nesbitt stood on his head and Christian Marsilla also minded the net for a few minutes. The defence played a safe game and moved the puck quickly. All of the forwards back-checked and with only 11 skaters the team was tired but really wanted the win. The game went into overtime and the Majors had some great chances. With fractions of a second left on the clock in overtime Rothesay Netherwood managed to jam one past the goal line. At first the buzzer went and we thought we were heading to a shoot-out but after the Officials talked about it they decide it was a goal.
It was a great tournament for the Majors with the team scoring 37 goals for and 12 goals against in six games. The whole team played an outstanding tournament.
The Majors would like to thank the Drumline for adding to the atmosphere of the game, the student body, teachers and parents for cheering them on all season. Special mention also goes to Robert Tunny and all the arena staff for their patience and support all season.
Points on the weekend saw many Majors at the top of the NISIC tournament scoring leaderboard. Dempsey 6 G and 4 A, Luke Geiger 6 G and 3 A, Raftis 4 G and 3 A, Hoefenmayer 3 G and 2 A, Zabaneh 3 G and 2 A, McBroom 3 G and 1 A, Romeo 2 G and 8 A, Fitzgerald 2 G and 6 A, Pereira 2 G and 3 A, Melatti 1 G and 8 A, Fantuzzi 1 G and 5 A, Orrico 1 G and 3 A, Jang 1 G and 2 A, da Silva 1 G and 1 A, Kichauk 1 G and 1 A, Basciano 3 A, Coote and Saab-Breault 2 A Ban and Markus Geiger with 1 A.
