Atom Minor A ties it up in OMHA quarter-final

The Southpoint Point Pelee Karting Atom Minor A Capitals hit the ice at home Friday night, Feb. 21, facing off with Welland Tigers in their OMHA quarter-final series. After an overtime tie and an overtime loss the previous weekend, the Caps trailed the six-point series 3-1.

Southpoint came out flying and five minutes in, Jonathan Recker rimmed the puck around the boards to Brayden Foster, who chipped it up to Ben Liebrock who slid the puck past an outstretched goalie to take the lead. Zack Bradley scooped up the puck behind the net and slid a pass back to Charlie Ketler at the point. Ketler fired his shot and Kayden Cook lifted it over the tender to increase the lead to two.

In the middle frame, Brayden Foster grabbed a rebound and skated behind the net, scoring on a wraparound. Owen Derksen fed Cook the puck for a goal, and go up by four. Christian Papp stayed strong in net making two spectacular saves en route to earning the shutout.

On Saturday the teams were back at it again. It wasn’t until 6:40 left in the second that Welland scored while on the power play. The Tigers increased their lead to two in the third, then Tyler Thomas grabbed the puck and broke past the D firing his shot on net. Zack Bradley corralled the rebound and slipped The Southpoint Atom Minor A team gathers to listen to their coaching staff. (Submitted Photo)

it in to get within one. Any chances of a Southpoint comeback were snuffed out late as the Caps took a few penalties and Welland capitalized by scoring a pair for a 4-1 loss.

On Sunday afternoon, the Caps came out a little flat and were scored on early on a questionable play with the net off. They kept working and were finally rewarded. While on the power play, Owen Derksen carried the puck into the offensive zone. AJ Youssef picked up the puck and fired it on net with the rebound coming out to Brayden Foster who rifled his shot in bar down to even the score.

In the third, Jonathan Recker rifled a wrist shot glove side to go up by one. A minute later, Welland tied it up. With the Tigers only needing a tie to win the series, the hometown team started to pressure. Owen Derksen grabbed the puck inside his line, skated down the left wing and wired his shot in high glove to regain the lead.

The Capitals were able to thwart any last minute comebacks and skated away with the 3-2 victory. Papp backstopped his squad to the series tying win by making numerous timely saves.

With the six-point series now tied 5-5, Southpoint travels to Welland to see who will advance to the semi-finals.