Warriors force Flyers to game seven with 4-1 win

By C. Scott Holland

The Stratford Warriors have pushed the Leamington Flyers to the limit in their best-of-seven Sutherland Cup final series.

The Flyers had jumped out to series leads of 2-0 and 3-1, but have dropped the last two games and headed into Stratford Tuesday night for game seven.

Last Thursday night a large crowd packed the arena to watch game four in the series with a 4-2 Flyers victory.

With a chance to win it on the road, the Flyers lost a nail-biter in Stratford Saturday by a 4-3 score.

On Sunday, a crowd of 1,672 watched an important contest where Leamington could capture the Sutherland Cup, but it wasn’t to be as they fell 4-1at home, leaving the series knotted at three-all.

When Thursday’s battle was over, the Flyers had emerged with a 4-2 victory and a 3-1 series lead. Post-game, Leamington and area fans were bursting with excitement that the Flyers may win the Sutherland Cup.

From the outset, the Flyers showed a hunger and intensity not seen in recent memory. They outhustled and outplayed the Warriors for a majority of the game, although there were times — especially in the second period — when the Warriors were ahead and appeared to have an edge. Despite a few minor dust-ups — which did not lead to any penalties — both teams played a rather clean game. Each side had only one powerplay opportunity and one coincidental penalty.

Head coach Dale Mitchell reflected on game four at home. “I thought we played a really good game. We came out strong and showed that game three didn’t affect us,” he said. “We went down 2-1 but we knew that wasn’t a reflection on how we were playing. We came out in the third and showed why we deserved to win. We capitalized on our chances and only gave up 6 shots against.”

Leamington opened the scoring at 9:15 of the first period when Thomas Grossi sent Connor MacPherson to the net and MacPherson deftly flipped the puck past starter Owen Willmore for a 1-0 lead.

During those opening 10 minutes the Flyers had missed several good chances and easily could have been ahead by a couple of goals. But Stratford got back quickly when they scored at 13:53.

The score remained even until Jack Cotter was penalized for interference late in the second. Towards the end of the Flyers’ penalty kill, the Warriors notched the goahead goal for a 2-1 lead.

The two teams tested the other’s goalie in the second period as Leamington outshot Stratford 17-16.

Only seconds into the third period, coincidental minors were given to the Flyers’ Cody Brekke and Stratford’s Luke Fritz and shortly thereafter, the Flyers knotted the contest.

At 6:54, Connor MacPherson took the puck behind the Stratford net and snapped a pass to brother Ryan MacPherson out in front to the side of the slot area. In turn, Ryan quickly fed Owen Holmes, who planted it behind Willmore.

Re-energized and with loud vocal support, the game stayed tied until Gavin Grundner’s shot hit the backboards and trickled immediately out to the open side of the net where Adrian Bosev tapped it into the vacated side for a 3-2 lead.

It was a lead Leamington would not surrender.

Stratford lifted Willmore for an extra attacker with 2:31 left, but at 18:56 Cody Brekke deposited an empty-net insurance goal for a 4-2 final.

On Saturday in Stratford, the Flyers certainly had their chance to win the title but penalties became their downfall as Stratford notched three powerplay goals to the Flyers two. Ryan MacPherson Connor MacPherson and Cody Brekke scored on Saturday.

Sunday at home, a rather horrendous first period by the Flyers allowed the Warriors to go ahead 2-0.

Owen Holmes sparked the Flyers with a shorthanded goal before an odd-angle shot skipped past Bryce Walcarius for a 3-1 Stratford lead.

The Flyers pulled Walcarius for an extra attack in the final minutes, but the Warriors tacked on an empty-net tally for a 4-1 win.

Game seven was played Tuesday evening in Stratford — after press time. Check next week’s Sun for final results.

Leamington Flyers forward Owen Holmes celebrates the only Flyers’ goal Sunday, shorthanded, in the second period. Holmes’ tally brought the Flyers to within one, but that’s as close as they would get, losing 4-1. SUN photo

A puck jammed in along the boards in front of the Stratford bench created a battle between players for possession as Flyers Ryan Clark (6) and Jack Cotter (18) dig for it while Griffin Grundner (13) comes to assist. The Flyers went on to claim a 4-2 victory in game four and take a 3-1 Sutherland Cup series lead. Scott Holland photo