The Minor Bantam Clippers made their AA York Simcoe league debut Wednesday, visiting last year's second place Aurora Tigers.
Despite having three players still on the shelf, and suffering an early injury in the game, the Clippers held the edge in play overall, outshooting Aurora in both the first and third periods for an overall 16-14 edge.
Stouffville generated a lot of good chances with a solid and gritty effort, finally ending the scoreless drought from last weekend's tournament with a late third period power play tally on a faceoff feed from Messner converted by Strumos.
With the net empty Stouffville was pressing hard, when the game ended on a sketchy curfew following a late start.
This game proved to be a solid effort to use as a building block, with a season high shots on goal, a season best low of shots allowed and a faceoff winning percentage over 60%. While the stats improved, the final score closed with Aurora taking this game 3-1. Still, the Clippers gave the top notch Tigers something to think about with their surprising determination and competitiveness as a brand new entrant to the AA loop.
Next action sees the Clippers hosting last year's OMHA champion Barrie with the MBAA Clipper's home opener on Saturday, September 17th on PAD A.
COME OUT TO CHEER THE TEAM ON!!!