By Brendon Crossman, @coachcrossman

The West Mall Lightning Under-21 AAA team won the 42nd Annual International Silver Stick Juvenile Finals Tournament, held from Jan. 8 to 11 at the Moore Sports Complex in Mooretown, Ont.

The Lightning played all its games against fellow GTHL opponents, first earning 2-0 and 3-0 wins over the Goulding Park Rangers and Toronto Colts, respectively, before dropping their final round robin game 2-0 to the Mississauga Braves.

In the semifinal, the Lightning edged the Scarborough Bruins 3-2 to advance to the final against the Humberview Huskies.

With the score knotted at 1-1 and the championship game on its way to overtime, the Lightning found the back of the net with 0.2 seconds left in regulation to defeat the rival Huskies and capture the Silver Stick title.

After the penalty-free championship game, the Lightning were presented with the Arlene Hill Memorial Team Sportsmanship Award and West Mall skater Jerrell Campbell was named the recipient of the Optimist Award for sportsmanship and excellence.

In addition to the first-place finish and sportsmanship hardware collected by the Lightning, the team also made a lasting impression on Ryan Steeves, the team’s runner for the duration of the tournament.

“I cannot thank you, the coaching staff and the boys enough for this weekend,” Ryan’s mother, Jennifer, wrote to Lightning coach Randy Penney after the tournament. “You all took Ryan under your wings instantly and made him feel like a part of your team.”

“You should be extremely proud of how your boys represented your organization.  The team was very impressive, on and off the ice.”

Ryan also was part of the presentation for the team sportsmanship award, which bears his maternal grandmother’s name and is awarded in her honour.