Coming into the 8th Annual Men's Hockey Challenge Cup tournament in Barrie, there had never been a two-time winner of the title. Well - now there is - the St. Lawrence Cornwall Sharks.
The Challenge Cup features the top 12 extramural teams from the 30-team Campus Challenge Series tournament circuit in a two day year-end tournament for provincial bragging rights. The St. Lawrence Cornwall Sharks came into the tournament as the #1 seed and favourites to become the first two time champions, previously claiming the title in 2011. They did just that.
The top seeds defeated #12 Fanshawe 5-0 and the defending champion Trent Excalibur 2-1 in round robin play to set up a quarter-final match up against Conestoga. The quest for the title almost ended for the Sharks against the Condors, with the teams tied 1-1 after regulation and needing a shootout to decide things. Three times Conestoga had the chance to put the Sharks out, but were stone-walled. Finally, the Sharks scored in the 6th round and Conestoga couldn't match, sending Cornwall to the semi-finals against Fleming College, who upset #3 Humber North in the quarters. Goaltending proved to be the difference again as a Sharks goal midway through the second period was all Cornwall would need in a 1-0 win, setting up a showdown with the host Georgian-Barrie Grizzlies.
Georgian Barrie's road to the final was a bit longer. After splitting a pair of games on the tournament's opening day Georgian-Barrie went a perfect 3-0 in Tuesday's elimination round to qualify for the Championship Final. Wins over Fanshawe (4-2), George Brown (2-1) and the defending champion Trent Excalibur (4-1) sent the Grizzlies into the final.
However, Cornwall had the advantage of playing only two games on Day 2 going into the final while Georgian had played three. The Sharks took advantage of fresher legs, scoring a power play goal in the second period and an empty-netter for a hard-fought 2-0 win over a tired Georgian-Barrie squad.
OCCCR Challenge Cup Men's Hockey Results
Championship Final: St. Lawrence Cornwall 2 – Georgian Barrie 0 Goals: Matt Gregoire (SLC), Brian Landry (SLC)
Semi-Final: Georgian Barrie 4 – Trent 1 Goals: Byron Katapaytuk (2) (GEO), Connor Dorey (2) (GEO), Ian Cummings (TRE)
Semi-Final: St. Lawrence Cornwall 1 – Fleming 0 Goals: Larson Payette (SLC)
Quarter-Finals:
Fleming 3 Humber North 2 (SO)
SLC 2 Conestoga 1 (SO)
Geo Barrie 2 George Brown 1
Trent 4 Centennial 0
Humber North 3 St. Lawrence Brockville 0
Conestoga 3 Redeemer 2 (SO)
Trent 5 Humber Lakeshore 1
Geo Barrie 4 Fanshawe 2
Round Robin Results
Pool ASLC 5 Fanshawe 0
SLC 2 Trent 1
George Brown 1 Conestoga 0
Humber North 4 Conestoga 1
George Brown 2 Humber North 1 (SO)
Centennial 1 SLB 0
Redeemer 4 SLB 3
Centennial 4 Redeemer 0
Fleming 3 Humber Lakeshore 2
Geo Barrie 4 Humber Lakeshore 1
Fleming 4 Geo Barrie 3
No comments:
Post a Comment