Local hockey team prevails under pressure to become champions
After a rough 1-0 overtime loss in the quarter finals, the Riverains de Laval had one thing in mind: to win the 2021 Monteuil de Laval tournament.
So, after a hard battle and a 5-0 record in the tournament, the Riverains finally brought the championship home.
According to Riverains management, it had been a challenging year-and-a-half for everyone, but mostly for the young hockey players who had missed a whole year of their sport.
Off to a good start
The game started with a bang, and it only took the Riverains 2:01 to get on the board with a beautiful goal by Dayron Jimenez-Giraldo, assisted by Davide Petrangelo. It then took 1:29 for Gianluca Garippo to put his team ahead 2-0 with the help of Justin Iannetti and Ethan L’Ecuyer.
The period ended with a 2-0 lead. After two periods, it was 2-1 for the Riverains and their goalie Ayoub Halhoul stood on his toes to ensure his team was in a good spot entering the third period.
The third period started with another quick goal by Gianluca Garippo with a snipe top corner to ease the stress off the team.
Empty net goal
At the end of the period, the battle between both Laval teams was intense and incredible to watch. However, with only a minute left in the game, Justin Iannetti secured the lead for his team and pulled off an empty net goal.
With only seconds remaining, the team began to celebrate. Finally, when all was said and done and the final buzzer went off, the Riverains threw their gloves and helmets high with excitement because they could finally call themselves champions.
They got the job done
According to team management, it was not an easy journey despite what anyone says. They worked hard every shift and in every game with one goal in mind and they got the job done.
With the hard work of all the players, the encouragement from all the parents, the dedication of the coaching staff and, most importantly, the hard work of manager Paolo Girardi, Riverains de Laval are the champions of the 2021 Monteuil de Laval tournament.
