Titan hold on for Memorial Cup win

REGINA, Sask. – What looked to be a blowout through 40 minutes turned into another tight contest at the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Regina on Sunday evening.

The Quebec League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan built a 3-1 lead through five minutes and held a 6-2 lead after two periods only to see the Regina Pats battle back to make things close in an 8-6 Titan victory in round robin action at the Brandt Centre.

Titan defenceman Noah Dobson, who had two goals and two assists in the contest, called the third period a learning experience.

“We just stopped playing our game and sat back,” Dobson said. “We’re going to learn from the experience and not sit back.”

For the Pats, the third period wasn’t as much of a positive for Coach John Paddock.

“The third period disguised a whole bunch of crap,” Paddock said.

“We didn’t have a player who outplayed a player he was playing against,” Paddock also said.

Jeffrey Viel had two goals and an assist for the Titan while Liam Murphy also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. Ethan Crossman had a pair of goals. Samuel Asselin added a goal and an assist for Acadie-Bathurst.

Goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick made 32 saves.

Sam Steel set up four goals for the Pats, including a pair in the third period. Cameron Hebig had two goals and an assist while Matt Bradley, Nick Henry, and Josh Mahura added a goal and an assist each for Regina. Jared Legein also scored.

Goaltender Max Paddock stopped 26 shots before being pulled after two periods of work. Ryan Kubic proceeded to stop three of the four shots he faced in the third period.

The win gives the Titan a 2-0 record and in good shape heading into their round robin finale.

“We’re happy with where we are right now but obviously not satisfied,” Dobson said. “The end goal is to win the tournament and we’ve got a long way to go.”

Regina falls to 1-1.

Tournament action resumes on Monday evening as the Ontario League champions, the Hamilton Bulldogs, face the Western League champions, the Swift Current Broncos. The Bulldogs will then wrap up their round robin action on Tuesday night against the Titan.