The U16 AAA Petes did something over the weekend that hasn’t been done in 15 years, bringing home the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) championship for the first time since 2008.
Just like the Green Jacket giving to the winner at the PGA Tour’s Masters Tournament, the team received Red Hats for their win.
The Petes sealed the deal with a 1-0 triple overtime win over the Southern Tier Admirals in the final, playing in their second game of the day after knocking off the York Simcoe Express a few hours earlier.
It was also their second big overtime victory in a week, having won the Eastern AAA Hockey League (ETA) title in OT the Sunday prior. Kaiden Harmon scored the winning goals in both games.
Head Coach Mike Farrugia was very proud of his team’s effort and impressed by the way they were able to keep battling.
Going into the finals, Farrugia knew how tough their opponents would be and wasn’t surprised in the marathon three overtime game.
As far as accomplishing a mission that hadn’t been complete by a U16 AAA Peterborough team in a decade and half, Farrugia said it wasn’t on their mind going into the weekend but it was a nice feeling afterwards, knowing that they put Peterborough back on the hockey map.
The Petes have yet to lose a game since the calendar turned to 2023 and will now ride a 36-game unbeaten streak into the OHL Cup which starts next week, a showcase that will feature the top 20 U16 AAA teams from Ontario and the United States.
You can listen to the full chat with Coach Farrugia below:
(Written by: Scott Arnold)
