Mar 21, 2016 | mlemaire | 2593 views
Rye’s hat-trick leads atom AA Winterhawks to OMHA title win
Reproduced from Milton Canadian Champion By Steve LeBlanc
John Hendry knew it wasn’t a case of if someone would step up — just a matter of who. With all nine of his double-A atom forwards having scored 30 or more goals this season, there was all kinds of ammunition available for game four of the OMHA championship Sunday evening. And with a boisterous hometown crowd behind them at Milton Sports Centre and a reminder just the day before that no team is unbeatable, the Winterhawks had newfound fire to match their firepower.
“They were motivated by the loss,” said Milton's head coach, referring to Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Alliston’s TNT Tornados. “I think it (loss) was needed. It definitely aided and assisted us.” Powered by a hat-trick from Ethan Rye and rock-solid cage by Jack Wolchuk, Milton grabbed the upper-hand early and kept the pressure on in clinching the title with a 5-2 victory. Rye put the hosts on the board just 40 seconds into the first and struck again at the three-minute mark. He’d reclaim the Winterhawks’ lead midway through the second, after a pair of powerplay goals against. From there, Milton pulled away with third-period goals from Philip Wsol and John Harper, who buried a beautiful shot for the emotional backbreaker.
Said Hendry, “I think TNT was done (after game-three win) and our depth showed through. Everybody did the heavy lifting.” Part of a formidable tandem with Max Oldacre — averaging under a goal-and-a-half a game this season — Wolchuk turned back a couple of big opportunities early on and provided a stabilizing presence throughout the night. David Barber and Nolan Hendry contributed two assists each, while chipping in with single helpers were Christian Lemaire, Kyle Current and Tristan Tremble.
The Winterhawks went 23-1-4 in the regular season and had a 14-game win streak going in the playoffs before dropping game three of the final 3-2. Rye and Jake Mallory scored in that rare loss. The atoms now close out the season at the OHF championships April 8 to 10 in Hamilton