Bantam Greyhounds win NOHA title

Backed by stellar performances from goaltender Justin Hogsden and forward Mike Rivard, the Soo Bantam Greyhounds clinched the NOHA AAA Bantam Minor Championship in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Bantam Greyhounds entered Saturday afternoon's game with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series after taking games one and two by scores of 5-0 and 5-2, respectively, on Friday.

On Saturday, Rivard, who led the way offensively in Friday night's 5-2 win with two goals and an assist, continued his strong play on Saturday afternoon with a three goal performance en route to a 6-0 Greyhounds series clinching win.

The Greyhounds opened the game with the first big scoring chance as Jarrett Burton broke in alone on Sudbury goaltender T.J. Pugliese but was foiled by the Sudbury keeper.

Not long after Rivard capitalized to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead, Laurie Gieni then put the Greyhounds up two goals with just under five minutes left in the period.

Just 24 seconds later, Burton converted a cross-ice feed from Tyler Luikkonen to send the game into the first intermission with the locals leading 3-0.

In the second period, Rivard scored his second goal of the afternoon when he knocked in a rebound off of an Anthony Colizza shot.

Zachary Larue, who had a glorious chance to put the game out of reach late in the opening period, capitalized on his second chance just over six minutes into the second period when he beat Pugliese to make the score 5-0.

Rivard capped off his stellar performance with his third goal of the game when he scored a text book goal high to the short side on Pugliese to give the Greyhounds the 6-0 win.

Greyhounds coach Dominic DeLuca was extremely happy to be able to cap off the season with the NOHA championship after winning both the NIHL regular season and playoff titles as well as a championship at the Steel City Hockey Tournament in January in Sault Ste. Marie.

"It feels unbelievable," DeLuca said during the post game celebration. "(The players) are like your own kids. Chemistry's a big thing. It's been a dream season."

DeLuca went on to say that the team came together all season long and seem to be like a "family". The chemistry that they had during the season was also a big help when it came to winning the title.

DeLuca added that getting some early chances that led to taking an early lead in the game was a key factor and was a major part of their game plan heading into game three. He added that their puck possession game was also an important factor in the win.

"Our game plan was to get up a couple of goals," DeLuca said. "We knew it would take the wind out of their sails. Our puck possession game made the difference."

The shutout was the Greyhounds 23rd of the season and 16th for Hogsden alone. Hogsden was in net for both Greyhound shutouts in the series while Greg McAllister recorded the win in game two.

The Greyhounds as a whole gave up 96 goals this season in just over 70 games.