Vipers overcome Chatham in close GOJHL quarterfinal
Lasalle Vipers forward Jaksen Ward put an end to a hard-fought series with the Chatham Maroons on Sunday.
Ward scored his first goal of the playoffs at 3:15 of overtime as the fourth-seeded Vipers rallied for a 4-3 road win over the fifth-seeded Chatham Maroons.
The Vipers took the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League 4-2. All six series games were decided by a goal and four of the games went to overtime.
“It means so much to our team and I think it really shows what kind of team we are,” captain Owen Findlay said. “It was an absolute grind for six games, but we never stopped working and we got rewarded for it.”
Findlay scored twice for the Vipers, including the game-tying goal with 32 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Alec Stewart had the other goal.
“It was a great back-and-forth series that taught us how to play hockey in high-pressure situations,” said Vipers head coach Chad Shepley, who saw his team take Game 5 at home on Saturday by a 3-2 score. “I'm so proud of the way our guys competed and handled the adversity of the series losing some heartbreakers in overtime.”
On Saturday, Gage Evans, Patrick Mcmanus and Nicholas Graniero scored for the Vipers, who got a solid 33-save effort from goalie Tre Altiman.
The Vipers now advance to the semifinals against the top-seeded London Nationals.
CANADIENS VERSUS 73'S
To no one's surprise the Lakeshore Canadiens and Essex 73's will meet in the Bill Stobbs Division final in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
The top-seeded Canadiens completed a sweep of the fourth-seeded Wheatley Sharks on Saturday with a 7-1 road win to take the bestof-seven series 4-0.
Julian Gignac scored three goals, while Eric Bisson scored twice with Spencer Higginbottom and Aydon Novacco adding single goals. Shannon Olson had the lone goal for the Sharks.
The second-seeded 73's also made it a sweep of the third-seeded Blenheim Blades with a 4-1 road win on Sunday to take the best-ofseven series 4-0.
Liam Hall, Seth Martineau, Jayden Seguin and Nate Dowling scored for the 73's, who held a 4617 edge in shots.
The 73's took Game 3 of the series 3-1 at home on Saturday. Dowling scored twice and Conor Dembinski had the other with Essex holding a 51-19 edge in shots.
FLYERS MOVE ON
The Leamington Flyers are moving on to the second round of the Ontario Junior Hockey league playoffs.
Captain Cayden Faust scored just over three minutes into overtime to lift the third-seeded Flyers to a 6-5 road win over the sixth-seeded Georgetown Raiders on Saturday. The Flyers swept the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series 4-0.
Leamington had to rally late to force overtime with Chris O'flaherty and Cameron Arquette scoring 34 seconds apart to tie the game with just under four minutes to play.
Arquette scored twice for the Flyers with Griffin Grundner and Anthony Ciaramitaro adding goals for Leamington, which will meet the Milton Menace in the next round.
EXPRESS SNAP SKID
The Windsor Express snapped a two-game losing streak with a 144109 win over the Pontiac Pharaohs in Basketball Super League play on Saturday at the WFCU Centre.
Paul Harrison finished with 30 points for the Express (10-8). Calvin Blaydes added 22 points while Ty Groce was the only other starter in double figures with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Windsor got a solid showing from its bench, which produced 66 points with Montrell Jacobs scoring 19 points, Shadell Millinghaus adding 18 and Amir Yusuf another 16 points.