Archive

Siskins face showdown with Lakefield Chiefs

April 23, 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Stayner Siskins are back in their semi-final Schmalz Cup series with the Lakefield Chiefs after winning game six of the series in overtime on Tuesday (Apr. 17) night in Lakefield.

The Siskins were trailing 3-2 in the series going into the game and a loss meant their season would be over.

After failing to score and giving up a goal to Lakefield in the first period, the Siskins took a short lived lead in the second period with a goal from Ty Kulba on a powerplay to tie it up, and a go-ahead goal from Jarrett Baker at 5:04 into the period to make it a 2-1 game. The Chiefs tied the game 1:41 later on an unassisted goal.

Stayner’s Kevin Boyd scored just over a minute later to give the Siskins a 3-2 lead but the Chiefs again tied it up late in the frame to set up the third period with a 3-3 game and 20 minutes to go.

The squads returned for a wild third with both teams battling hard. The Siskins were trying to stay alive and the Chiefs hoping to end the series on home ice.

With no scoring the third the teams took a break and returned for an overtime period.

The game ended when Stayner forward Curtis Ballantyne took the feed from Ben Hughes and scored the winning goal at 6:17 into the overtime period.

The teams will now return to Stayner on Thursday (Apr. 19) for a showdown in game seven with the winner taking the series and advancing to the Schmalz Cup championship final series.

The semi-final got underway on April 5.

Game one ended with a 7-4win for the Siskens on home ice.

After two games the Siskins were leading 2-0 after winning 2-1 in Lakefield on April 7.

Lakefield won game three the very next night leaving the ice with a 2-1 finish.

Game four of the series shook the Stayner fans when the Chiefs scored seven goals against the Siskins and the series was tied at two. Returning to Stayner for game five the Siskins were in trouble when the Chiefs managed another win to take the lead and push the Stayner squad to the brink of elimination.

The Siskins stepped up to win and force what will be an a tough game seven and an exciting game for Junior C fans to watch on Thursday night.

The winner of the series will face the Glanbrook Rangers for the Schmalz Cup Champonship.

Glanbrook defeated the Lambeth Lancers in six games in their semi-final series which wrapped up on April 14.

The last time Glanbrook won the cup was back in 1999 when they had a three consecutive championship years.

The Siskins have never won a Schmalz Cup championship.

The closest they came was in 1992 when they went to the final but lost to the Belle River Canadiens.

Readers Comments (0)