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LAKESHORE – After a gruelling seven-game series, there was only respect.
One point separated the top-seeded Lakeshore Canadiens and the second-seeded Essex 73’s in the regular season.
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On Sunday, it was one period that finally decided a back-and-forth battle that had gone on all season.
“Essex was so deep,” Canadiens’ forward Bryce Scarlett said. “They’re a heck of a team and coached real well. It goes to show for the guys in our room, we battled through a hard series and they took us to seven.”
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Tied after 40 minutes, Scarlett got the winner with just under nine minutes to play and Trevor LaRue clinched it with an empty-net goal with 61 seconds left in regulation to give the Canadiens a 3-1 victory before a sold-out crowd of more than 1,000 at the Atlas Tube Centre on Sunday.
“These two teams are as close as you can get in this division,” Canadiens’ goaltender Boe Piroski said. “They’re a great team over there and we’ve got a lot of talent over here, too.”
It was Lakeshore’s fifth consecutive title as the Canadiens, who fell 1-0 in Game 6 on Friday in Essex, took the best-of-seven series 4-3 to capture the Bill Stobbs Division in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
“It’s not too often you’re outshot 27-15 in a game and win 3-1,” Canadiens’ head coach Anthony Iaquinta said. “ We’ll take it. You get the bounce here and the bounce there and there it is
“Seven games, every game’s a one-goal game, you have a couple of empty netters here and there, but for the most part they’re all tight, not a lot of chances and two teams that play very similar. Crowds were outstanding and fans were great for both sides. Just a lot of fun to be part of.”
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Landon Prince got the Canadiens on the board first with the only goal of the first period as his shot hit a stick and beat 73’s goalie Wyatt Sloetjes.
Cael McCabe answered with the only goal of the second period to tie the game at 1-1 after 40 minutes.
“It was going to be down to the little things at the end,” Piroski said. “We all knew what we had to do. Game 7, going into the third period tied, it just comes down to one period.”
Piroski was a difference maker on Sunday. Lakeshore was outshot in all three periods, but Piroski finished with 26 saves.
“I thought he’s been just solid,” Iaquinta said. “Boe’s made saves that he needed to make and saves he shouldn’t have had any opportunity to and our guys battled.”
With both teams playing cautiously trying not to make a mistake, it was Scarlett who took advantage for the winner.
“Puck popped out, it was a good forecheck by (Aedan) Sullivan and I happened to get it and it went in,” Scarlett said.
From there, Lakeshore allowed the 73’s few opportunities to get into scoring position and killed the clock.
“I mean, we worked hard all year,” McCabe said. “Not the outcome we wanted, but a good group of guys here. A second goal would have helped, but you can’t change things.
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“No one wants to make mistakes, but mistakes happen. Definitely a learning experience for me as a rookie. Definitely never want to feel this feeling again. Comeback next year and hopefully get a win.”
The Canadiens will now move on the the PJHL quarter-finals against the Thamesford Trojans with dates to be decided later this week.
“It was a real good series,” said 73’s head coach Tony Piroski, who came out of retirement in December to takeover the team for the remainder of the season. “We played well and I feel sorry for my guys because we were just starting to get the hang of how to play. Come into their building and Game 7 and hold them to 15 shots. If someone would have told me that before the game, I would have told me that before the game, I would have said, ‘We’re probably going to win this game.’
“We played hard. Give them credit, they won, but I’d like to play it over again.”
jpparker@postmedia.com
twitter.com/winstarparker
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