Flyers roar back to punch ticket to Sutherland final

By C. Scott Holland

Last Thursday night, April 20, was the first of two important playoff games for the Leamington Flyers. They hosted the Stratford Warriors who carried a 2-1 record into the contest while the Flyers were 1-1.

The outcome would determine each club’s fate.

Stratford won the contest, which set the Flyers up in a must-win do-ordie game in Hamilton on Sunday, in which the Flyers erased a 2-0 third period deficit and punched their ticket to the Sutherland Cup finals with a 5-2 win.

When the 1,128 fans left the Highbury Canco arena Thursday, there was little elation. Leamington lost a 2-1 heartbreaker which allowed the Stratford Warriors to gain a Sutherland Cup berth and left the Flyers with a 1-2 record and one game to play.

During the first half of the opening period, the Flyers came out strong and had Stratford struggling in their own end.

But Stratford goalie Owen Willmore was up to halting 12 Flyers shots in the frame.

The turning point hinged on two powerplay opportunities. The Flyers received the game’s first extra-man chance at 14:57 but could not manufacture a goal.

Koen Taves was saddled with a tripping penalty at 17:05 and the Warriors got the all-important first goal at 17:32 when a shot from the left lane eluded starter Bryce Walcarius and made it 1-0 Stratford.

Special teams continued to wreak havoc on the Flyers as Kale Couvillon took a slashing call only 46 seconds into the middle frame.

Again the Warriors wasted little time and pounded a shot from the top that found the back of the Flyers’ net and it was 2-0 for the visitors.

Down 2-0, the pressure was clearly on the Flyers and from that juncture on they did not look like the same team. Often their play was erratic and filled with hesitation, yet they played hard to stay in the contest.

The Flyers had two golden powerplay opportunities on which to notch a goal yet shots on net were few and very far between. One of those chances came midway through the second, while the other was in the final 10 minutes of the third.

The third period might have been the team’s best of the game, but it wasn’t until they lifted Walcarius for an extra attacker with three minutes remaining in the game that any kind of urgency showed.

While applying immense pressure to the Warriors’ defense, at 18:46 Trevor LaRue got a loose puck past Willmore’s open right side to make it a 2-1 contest.

During the final minute, the Flyers narrowly missed scoring the game-tying goal and it ended 2-1 for Stratford.

In Hamilton on Sunday, the winner of the battle of 1-2 teams would advance while the loser would be sidelined for the summer.

The Leamington Flyers pulled off an epic comeback and defeated the Hamilton Kilty B’s 5-2 to advance to the Sutherland Cup finals for the first time in their history.

For 40 minutes, it appeared pretty bleak and many thoughts might have been on the end of a rather glorious season. Leamington fell behind 1-0 just 90 seconds into the game and then Hamilton made it 2-0 at 2:25 of the second period.

The Kilty B’s nursed that 2-0 lead until just past the midway point of the third when the Flyers finally got a break.

A puck bounced off the end boards behind Hamilton netminder and squirted into the net to make it a 2-1 game. That marker was awarded to Nolan McKibbin.

About 30 seconds later, Owen Holmes converted a Ryan MacPherson shot and it was suddenly a tie game.

At 13:33, a tripping call on Hamilton set up a Flyers’ powerplay and Ryan MacPherson lofted a left lane shot into the top corner of the net for a 3-2 lead.

The three goals came in a span of 2:11.

Following that, Connor MacPherson was sidelined for two minutes with a tripping call but the Flyers went into their defensive mode and killed the penalty.

Hamilton pulled starter David Egorov for an extra attacker with just over two minutes left; however, the move backfired as captain Gabe Piccolo found the vacated net at 18:09. His goal sealed the victory and then Piccolo added his second empty-netter at 19:24 to put the icing on the cake and the Flyers won 5-2. Walcarius stopped 32 of 34 while Egorov halted 31 of 34.

“I am so proud of these young men,” said coach Dale Mitchell on Sunday. “We knew our first period was not good enough. We came out hungry in the second and knew if we could get one we would get two. This group continues to amaze me.”

The Flyers will meet the Stratford Warriors in the Sutherland Cup finals.

SCHEDULE

Game 1: Fri. Apr. 28 in Stratford, 7:30 pm.

Game 2: Sun. Apr. 30 at home, 5:10 pm.

Game 3: Mon. May 1 in Stratford, 7:30 pm.

Game 4: Thurs. May 4 at home, 7:10 pm.

*Game 5: Sat. May 6 in Stratford, 5 pm.

*Game 6: Sun. May 7 at home, 5:10 pm.

*Game 7 – Tues. May 9 at Stratford, 7:30 pm.

*if necessary Individual game tickets for the playoffs are available online at www.leamingtonflyers.com.

With an extra-attacker, there were several scrambles around Warriors’ goalie Owen Willmore during the final two minutes. Here, Griffin Grundner (13), Gabe Piccolo (98) and Trevor LaRue (90) buzz around the slot area. LaRue would score the Flyers’ lone goal of the game at 18:46. The Flyers lost the contest 2-1. Scott Holland photo