Saturday, March 16, 2013

2013 OHL Cup Quarter-Final Recaps

Press Release

The 2013 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament continued Saturday morning with Quarter-Final action at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.  Saturday night will feature both Semi-Final contests beginning at 6:00 pm with the Championship Final slated for Sunday afternoon at 3:00 pm at Herb Carnegie Arena in North York.

Quarter-Final 1: York Simcoe Express 4 vs. Toronto Jr. Canadiens 0
By Mark McKelvie
A quick start by the York Simcoe Express carried them to a 4-0 win over the Toronto Jr. Canadiens in quarter-final action Saturday morning.

Connor Barrow roofed a backhand from the top of the crease 4:10 into the first period to put the Express ahead. From there the Express never stopped rolling.

Connor Schlichting, Graham Knott and Adam Newell contributed for the Express’ other three goals.

“I got to bury that first goal and it fired the boys up,” said Barrow after the victory. “The game plan was to get the first goal since we hadn’t got the first goal all tournament and once we got that we kept going and executing.”

Express goaltender Marcus Semiao posted his first shutout of the tournament in the victory improving his record to three wins and a tie. Semiao has only allowed four goals in his four appearances.

For the Jr. Canadiens, their tournament comes to an end after finishing first in their division. The Jr. Canadiens were led in scoring by a trio of players. Nikita Korostelev, T.J. Fergus and 1998 born call-up Victor Mete all had four points.

The Jr. Canadiens finish with an overall record of 3-2, while the Express improve to 3-1-1.

Barrow says his Express squad has had the semi-finals of the OHL Cup in mind all season.

“It was our goal all year and it’s an amazing feeling to get there. I’m really proud of the boys and hopefully we can keep it up and go to the finals.”

The Express will face the Oakville Rangers in the semi-finals this evening.
Express MVP - Matthew Bernard
Jr. Canadiens MVP - Izzy Benigno (Goalie)
Game Summary

Quarter-Final 2: Oakville Rangers 2 vs. Halton Hurricanes 1 OT
By Rob Benneian
The Halton Hurricanes weathered an intense Oakville Rangers attack for as long as they could, but their efforts came up just minutes short as they lost 2-1 in overtime.

Chris Klack opened the scoring for Halton just 5:45 into the contest on a power play. Klack banked the puck in off Oakville goaltender Brendan McGlynn from a sharp angle.

The goal looked like it would stand up for the duration of the game, despite an unrelenting Rangers offence that controlled the puck for most of the game. Goaltender Michael McNiven seemed to be impenetrable, turning aside scoring chance after scoring chance from the Oakville shooters.

“McNiven might be the best goalie eligible for the draft,” said Rangers head coach Duncan Harvey. “I’ve always thought that. We knew we had to get pucks to the net, we had to get bodies to the net and even still he was stopping them.”

Oakville finally broke through when Brett McKenzie was first to a loose puck in the slot and snapped it by McNiven with 3:09 to play in the third period.

Just seconds after Halton’s Matthew Kreis was denied on a backhand from the slot by McGlynn, the Rangers drew a crucial penalty call.

“It started with (Matt) Spencer being calm at the point and he gave it over to Brett (McKenzie). I just found a little opening backdoor and Brett made a beautiful pass over two sticks to me and I just put it in the back of the net,” said Rangers defenceman Kyle Capobianco of his game-winning power play goal.

The Hurricanes, who earned the number one seed in Division 2 with a 2-0-2 record, were gracious in defeat with head coach Kyle Russell calling Oakville “the best (minor midget) team in North America.”

The Rangers will face the York Simcoe Express, who defeated the Toronto Jr. Canadiens 4-0 earlier in the day in the first of two semi-final matches tonight.
Rangers MVP - Brett McKenzie (1G)
Hurricanes MVP - Michael McNiven (Goalie)
Game Summary

Quarter Final 3: Toronto Marlboros 1 vs. Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs 0
By Sarah Jean Maher
The Toronto Marlboros will continue their OHL Cup run in the semifinals after edging the Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs to a 1-0 victory.

Both teams were unable to score in the first two periods of play.  The Marlboros dominated in the third but Chiefs goaltender Justin Fazio was solid, leaving the crowd prepared for overtime.

With just 40 seconds left in the third period, GTHL Player of the Year Dylan Strome finally got the puck past Fazio, putting the Marlboros on the board and opening the scoring.  His goal would end the Chiefs’ playoff run as they were unable to tie it up in the remaining seconds.

Justin Fregona and Ryan Hunt picked up assists on the game-winning goal.

“I think we were pretty good defensively this game,” said Strome, “but maybe we can work on being more offensive.  A win’s a win but we’d like to feel a little more secure in the other zone.”

Strome was awarded Player of the Game while Fazio was named MVP.

Strome had a strong round-robin performance with four goals and three assists.  His linemate Hunt wasn’t far behind with three goals and two assists.

The Marlboros will take on the TPH Thunder in the semifinal matchup at 8 pm.
Marlboros MVP - Dylan Strome (GWG)
Chiefs MVP - Justin Fazio (Goalie)
Game Summary

Quarter-Final 4: TPH Thunder 3 vs. Barrie Jr. Colts 0
By Rob Benneian
In the fourth and final quarterfinal match of the day, strong defence and goaltender prevailed again as the TPH Thunder shut out the previously undefeated Barrie Jr. Colts 3-0.

Thunder forward Jake Cox was the only player to solve Colts goaltender Bradley van Schubert, who was named the Colts' Player of the Game. TPH scored twice in the final 30 seconds into an empty net when van Schubert was pulled for an extra attacker.

“It was a really even game,” said Thunder head coach Paul Flache. “They played well, we played well, it could have gone either way. We got a break at the end.”

Garrett Forrest earned the shutout for TPH, sending them into the semi-finals to meet the Toronto Marlboros.

“Sometimes the bounces don’t go your way,” said Colts head coach John MacArthur. “I thought we had lots of scoring opportunities but we just didn’t seem to be able to find the back of the net.”

The Thunder are the highest-scoring team remaining the tournament with 20 goals scored, and trail only the Colts 22 tallies for the entire tournament. However, that doesn’t mean the Thunder want to start trading chances with the Marlboros.

“I’d like it to be tight (defensively),” said Flache. “I think the biggest thing is we don’t play loose but we play aggressive. If the guys are moving their feet and skating we should be alright.”
Thunder MVP - Garrett Forrest (SO)
Colts MVP - Bradley van Schubert (Goalie)
Game Summary

Saturday March 16 Semi-Final Schedule:
6:00 pm - York Simcoe Express vs. Oakville Rangers (Hershey Centre Main)
8:00 pm - TPH Thunder vs. Barrie Jr. Colts (Hershey Centre Main)
Sunday March 17 Schedule:
3:00 pm - Championship Final (Herb Carnegie Arena)


 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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