The St. Anne Saints and Essex Red Raiders are headed to OFSAA.
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The St. Anne Saints and Essex Red Raiders are headed to OFSAA.
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The Saints, who are hosting this year’s AAA boys’ hockey championship, secured a spot by taking the SWOSSAA title on Thursday with 4-1 road win over the Chatham-Kent Hawks. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders secured a spot at the AA/A boys’ championship by winning the SWOSSAA final with a 6-0 road win over the Lambton-Kent Cardinals.
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“It was a good team effort,” Saints’ head coach Steve Burke said. “We had everyone going.”
Jack Fitzmaurice and Vaughn Truppe helped the Saints grab a 2-1 lead after the first period. Brayden Lappainen provided some insurance with the lone goal of the second period and Matthew Spencer sealed the win with the only goal in the third period. Eric Wood picked up a pair of assists in support of goalie Zayne Copland.
“Chatham-Kent never gave up and we just got timely goals from our goal scorers,” Burke said. “Our defence was steady and Copland carried us during the second when they put pressure on us.”
It marked St. Anne’s first SWOSSAA title since 2017 while the Red Raiders claimed the AA/A title for the first time since 2008.
“The players did a great job executing the game plan and moving the puck,” Red Raiders’ head coach John Forbes said. “There were some unbelievable goals that fired up our team to play even better.”
The Red Raiders quickly took control of Thursday’s match by taking a 2-0 lead after he first period and adding two goals more goals in the second period and another two in the third period.
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Parker Wuerch finished with a pair of goals for Essex with Braedan Cavanagh, Andrew Baker, Ian McFarlane and Joe McLeod adding single goals. Reed VanderVecht earned the shutout.
“We played a great defensive game with a few moments where Reed VanderVecht came up big,” Forbes said.
The wins also opened the door for two more WECSSAA teams to qualify for the OFSAA hockey championships, which are scheduled for March 18-20.
The Villanova Wildcats, who fell 4-2 to St. Anne in the WECSSAA AAA final, can now challenge the Hawks for the area’s second berth at OFSAA. Meanwhile, the Belle River Nobles, who lost 3-1 to Essex in the WECSSAA final, will get a chance to face the Cardinals to earn the area’s second OFSAA berth at the AA/A tournament, which will be played in Sudbury.
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