Sunday, March 21, 2010

2010 OHL Cup - Semi Final Results

Press Release

Championship Sunday began with the Toronto Marlboros, York Simcoe Express, TPH Thunder, and Mississauga Rebels still standing and competing for the Cup!

Follow the 2010 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament on Facebook and on YouTube which includes an inside look at OHL Cup officiating.

Click here to download the OHL Cup Update Newsletter for Day 5

Semi-Final 2: 9:30 am TPH Thunder 3 vs. Mississauga Rebels 5

The cinderella Mississauga Rebels ensured that the 2010 OHL Cup Final would be a battle of the GTHL with a 5-3 win over the American-based TPH Thunder. The Rebels advance to the Championship Final where they will face the Toronto Marlboros at 3:30 pm at the Hershey Centre's Main Bowl. A Sean Monahan hat-trick and five-point effort led the way for the Rebels. Zachary Fung also scored twice with Brett Gustavsen adding three assists for the Rebels. Mitchell Eisenberg, Chase Suprek, and Nick Cyr provided the goals for the Thunder. Both teams came out hard despite each of their quarter-final games going into overtime on Saturday night including the 79 minute game played by the TPH Thunder just to advance to today's game. The Rebels were the first to strike on a lovely tic-tac-toe play converted by Fung and set-up by Monahan and Gustavsen who was last night's overtime hero. The Rebels took advantage of the Thunder's second period fatigue led by top-scorer Monahan who exploded for a natural hat-trick in a span of less than five minutes with the first coming quickly off the faceoff just 23 seconds in the period and with the man advantage. At 1:36 he made it 3-0 shorthanded with a glove side shot, and completed his three goals with a power play mark at 5:11 which proved to be the game-winner.

"We all worked well together and won our battles to come out on top" Monahan said after the win. "We capitalized on our power play chances and my linemates got me the puck and today it was my chance to put them in." Monahan hopes to lead his team to another upset win which would mean beating the Marlies for the first time this season. "We tied them in the regular season, our room was really happy last night and right now but we still have one more game to play." Despite giving up five unanswered goals, the Thunder put in a gutsy effort and battled hard to score three straight goals including two on the power play with their goalie pulled. Eamon McAdam took the loss in goal for the Thunder after a brilliant effort in the marathon win less than 12 hours before. He entered the game in relief of Tom Bay who gave up the first three goals. Robert Adamo continued to be the man in goal for the Rebels and held on for the win.

TPH Thunder Player of the Game - Mitchell Eisenberg (1 goal)
Mississauga Rebels Player of the Game - Robert Adamo (Goaltender)

Click here for the Game Summary

Semi-Final 1: 9:00 am York Simcoe Express 1 vs. Toronto Marlboros 2

The Toronto Marlboros will play for the OHL Cup in the Championship Final for the fourth straight year following a tense 2-1 win over the OMHA Champion York Simcoe Express. The game never slowed down from the opening puck-drop with both teams showing their speed and quickness on the forecheck throughout the contest generating lots of chances. The teams traded quick goals in the first period beginning with Marlies' team-leading scorer Anthony Cortellessa at 3:59 followed soon after by Gabriel Greco of the Express at 5:28 with his fourth of the tournament. Quarter-final MVP Matia Marcantuoni continued his strong play in big games scoring the game winner on the power play at 7:59 of the second period. Given the offensive talent and so few goals, it was only fitting that both goaltenders received Player of the Game honours. Andy Munroe played strong in between the pipes for the Express despite the loss. The Express dominated the play in the closing minutes with countless chances in front of the goal but could not solve Jake Paterson who earned his fifth win of the tournament for the Marlies.

"It feels good to win, we have been working for this the whole season" Paterson said after the game. "York Simcoe beat us in the semi-finals of the Peewee Championships so it was nice to get them back. Most of the guys on our team now played that year too" he added. "This was our goal right from the start, to make it to the finals and now hopefully win it all." The Marlies will have a chance to repeat as OHL Cup Champions which is something Paterson hopes to accomplish. "We felt we needed to win this year after what the guys did here a year ago. The win today is definitely up there as one of the biggest of my career, but hopefully I get a more memorable one later today." Paterson will start in goal this afternoon at 3:30 pm in the Championship Final at the Hershey Centre's Main Bowl.

York Simcoe Express Player of the Game - Andy Munroe (Goaltender)
Toronto Marlboros Player of the Game - Jake Paterson (Goaltender)


(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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