Exeter, NH – On December 5^th the Spartans 09S team claimed the gold medal in the Can/Am Nashville Youth Challenge Cup.   Competing in the Music Row division, they played teams from St Louis, MO, Littleton, CO, and Winchester, MA.

Game one was a spirited affair versus a very amped up opponent in the Twin Bridges Lightning (MO).  The Spartans won by a score of 4-1.  The second game featured a battle against the Winchester Sachems who were coming off a 10-0 shutout of the Littleton Hawks.  While the Sachems were very talented, they were clearly frustrated by the team defense of the Spartans who completely took away the middle of the ice and drew multiple penalties.  The Seacoast boys prevailed 4-1 in a preview of the gold medal game.  Game three was a lopsided affair with the Spartans winning 10-1 vs the Littleton Hawks.  The gold medal game initially looked like it was going to be a blowout with three Spartans first period goals, but Winchester managed to tilt the ice and managed to pop in a goal while holding the Spartans scoreless.  However, the third period was return to form as any Sachem rush was met with either a lifted stick, aggressive body contact, or solid goaltending.  The Spartans ultimately prevailed 6-1.  Each team’s coaches noted how well the team played together (particularly back-checking by the forwards) in addition to the excellent sportsmanship displayed by the boys.

All in all the team had an amazing time not just on the ice but off.  A friendship was struck up with the Lightning team who came to cheer on the boys in the gold medal game just as the Spartans had done for their game earlier that morning.  The team very much embraced the Nashville life as well, attending the Bruins-Predators game down town and donning cowboy hats for much of the weekend.  It certainly seems like this is a Spartans team on the rise!