Bittersweet End For Young Chatham Maroons

The Chatham Maroons stormed back for a 4-3 overtime win Sunday night in front of a home crowd at Memorial Arena, but it was a bittersweet ending for the Junior B club which will miss the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.

In fact, the last time the Chatham Maroons missed the playoffs, was in 1995-1996, the same season first year players Sam Studnicka and Ian Faubert were born. Strangely enough, it was these young Maroons that propelled the team to their win Sunday night.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first period of Sunday’s game, the Maroons stormed back late for the win. Michael Verboom tied it 1-1 in the first, before the team allowed two more goals to trail 3-1.

In the third, Ian Faubert and Sam Studnicka both scored, and assisted on each others goals to tie the game, sending it to overtime. Studnicka finished the night with 3-points.

In overtime, veteran Brett Berger finished off the comeback for his young teammates, scoring the winning goal with only 1:14 remaining.

The good news for the Chatham Maroons, is that 22 of the 23 players on their roster, with the exception of overager Burke D’Souza, are eligible to return for the Maroons.

The playoffs will start this week for the other 8 GOJHL Western Conference teams.