By SDSSAA Puck
You could say that there is no better time in Sudbury high school sports than late February, where the city’s most popular sport reaches its championship series at the high school level. The combatants for this year's city title are ones we are already too familiar with: the storied powerhouse St. Charles Cardinals going up against the resurgent Lo-Ellen Park Knights. If you know anything about what happened last year, then you know you're in for a treat.
After the tight losses that the Knights had endured both last year and earlier this season from the Cards, they felt like they could finally weather the storm on the biggest stage. However, in Game One, the Cardinals came out flying and the Knights were caught by surprise. They were outshot 12-5 in the first and were lucky the Cardinals did not bury them alive. In the second, they began to cave. Keynan Kydd struck early in the period, and Hayden Myre followed up not long after to be up 2-0 at intermission. In the third, tallies by Reegan Billard and Karson Gouchie sank the Knights even further. A goal from Ethan Oliver late would break Rowan McCann’s shutout streak, but Myre would strike again with mere seconds left to finish the game. The Cardinals took Game One with a dominant score of 5-1, sending a message that they were still the top dogs in this final.
Lo-Ellen hoped to bounce back in Game Two and get out of the hole. Another goal from Oliver a mere two minutes into the game had the Knights on track to do just that. However, Cards leading scorer Liam Judd slipped it five-hole on netminder William Ford just two minutes later. With four minutes left to go in the period, the Cards took a tripping call to send the Knights on the man advantage. The power play had been sputtering all night, and Nolan Corriveau took advantage of a giveaway to go on a breakaway and score shorthanded to end the period. In the second, Judd scored again to increase the lead by intermission. In the third, Adam Urso made it 4-1 as it looked like the game was already over, but back-to-back goals from Hudson Crowder cut it to 4-3, giving the Knights a glimmer of hope. That hope was quickly smothered by the Cards as Myre and captain Carter Danyluk scored twice in the final minute to take Game Two by a score of 6-3.
Many thought the series would already be wrapped in Game Three, but the Knights did not. With a combination of stellar defense and 32 saves from all-star netminder Dax Yurich, the Knights managed to shut out an offense that averaged 6.5 goals per game. Along with a goal from Corey Lacroix and two from Matti Jouppi, Lo-Ellen flipped the script and took Game Three with a score of 3-0. The series had now gone from a St. Charles sweep to a possible reverse of last year’s finals. If the Knights could somehow come away with Game Four, they would have all the momentum heading into a deciding Game Five.
Luck would not be on the side of the Knights for Game Four. Yurich, who had been the x-factor in the Game Three win, sprained his MCL when a teammate jumped on him in the celebration, sidelining him for the series. To start the game, the Knights played with fire as they gave away the puck on numerous occasions. It came back to bite them at 12:09 in the first as Jackson Noble slid it through the five-hole of Ford to strike first for the Cards. The game then began to even out heading toward the second. At 7:03 in the second, Myre, fresh out of the box after taking a tripping call, picked the puck up near center ice. He was temporarily knocked down by a Lo-Ellen defender near the blue line but got back on his feet, maintained control of the puck, and roofed it on Ford on an odd-man rush in one of the goals of the year. 2-0 St. Charles.
The Knights began to play with desperation, and it paid off at 9:21 of the third when Lacroix got one past goalie Brody Mabbott from a tough angle. They kept pressuring, and the Cardinals bent but did not break, holding on for a final score of 2-1 to break the hearts of Lo-Ellen once again. Noble came away with the Chipper Marcotte trophy as playoff MVP, and St. Charles claimed their 38th city title and 5th in a row, equalling a league record set by the team from 1993-1997.
The Cardinals’ season is still far from over. With this win, they punch their ticket to NOSSA in North Bay on March 3-4, where they will take on the Korah Colts, St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Bears, and Chippewa Ravens. The Cardinals also have the prestigious privilege of hosting OFSAA this year from March 18-20, where they will play the very best Ontario has to offer. The finals win was just the first test of three for the Cards on their journey to provincial glory—a test they passed with flying colors once again.