Two finalists determined at Mayor's Cup

The first night of semi-final action at the Mayor's Cup took place Thursday at the Pee Wee Arena.

In the 35 and Over Division, first place Boissoneau Bus Lines faced off against the fourth place, Mohawks. Boissoneau Bus Lines opened the scoring at 11:22 of the first period, when Brad Webkamigad picked up a loose puck and fired it low, past Mohawk's goaltender, Tim Sabatine. Travis Halerow increased the Boissoneau Bus Lines lead to 2 – 0 on a pass from Nelson Duchesne.

Roch Boucher scored early in the second period for Boissoneau before the Mohawks finally got on the scoreboard with a power play goal from Greg MacLean with 8:20 remaining in the second period. Brad Webkamigad netted his second of the night at 1:39 of the second, and Tim Inch scored with 27 seconds remaining in the period to increase the Boissoneau Bus Lines lead to 5 – 1.

When the teams came back from the dressing rooms, Travis Halerow scored his second of the game 48 seconds into the third period to give Boissoneau Bus Lines a commanding 6 – 1 lead. The defensive play of Boissoneau Bus Lines was the real story of this game. Defensemen, Brad Webkamigad, Paul Syrette, Mark Lesage and Don Bentley blocked almost every shot that the Mohawks took.

The forwards played excellent two-way hockey, and Travis Halerow was especially evident as a back-checking forward that broke up several Mohawks opportunities. The Mohawks played the game with a depleted bench and were mostly frustrated by the defensive play of Boissoneau Bus Lines, who secured themselves a place in Saturday's Championship Game.

The Open Division semi-final game between first place, Clarica/Blueliners and fourth place, Soo Kings proved to be the most exiting game thus far in the 2007 Mayor's Cup.

The teams traded goals until, with 1:02 remaining in the first period, Gary Roach scored his second goal of the game to give Clarica/Blueliners a 3 – 2 lead. Just 20 seconds into the second period, Roach scored his third of the game to record a natural hat trick and give his Clarica/Blueliner's a 4 – 2 lead. Paul Spina scored for Clarica/Blueliners 4 minutes later to seemingly put the game out of hand.

Cue the comeback. Something seemed to spark the Soo Kings and with 6:29 remaining in the second period, Gary Armstrong scored on a feed from Ken Belanger. Rob Palahnuk, cut the Clarica/Blueliners lead to 5 – 4 on a perfect shot past Jake McCracken. With time winding down in the second period, Trevor Robidoux jumped on a loose puck in front of Jake McCracken and tied the score at 5 with 2.4 seconds remaining in the second period.

In the third period, Jason Rapcewicz, of the Kings took down Gary Roach to break up an excellent scoring opportunity. While shorthanded, Rob Palahnuk, of the Kings, went end to end and potted his third of the game, shorthanded, to give the Kings their first lead of the game at 6 – 5, and with 1:11 remaining, he put fourth goal of the night into the empty net to seal the victory for the Kings.

The semi-final game on Friday night, in the 35 and Over Division will feature, second place, Mr. Transmission against third place, Weedman at 8:00pm. In the Open Division, second place Godfrey Realty will face third place Assante/Mr. Transmission at 9:30pm.

*** WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS:

Wednesday night at the Mayor's Cup was the final night of round robin play. To be decided was the positioning for the Semi-Finals. Needing a win to clinch first place in the Open Division, Clarica/Blueliners skated to a 13 – 6 win over Algoma University. Algoma opened the scoring 48 seconds into the game on a goal from Chris Gramola. Clarica/Blueliners responded with five first period goals to carry a 5 – 1 lead into the second period. From there, Clarica/Blueliners never looked back and cruised on to victory. Dan Galarneau and Tim Johns each scored 3 for Clarica/Blueliners, with Johns also adding 3 assists. Chris Gramola had 2 goals and 3 assists for Algoma University.

The result of the 35 and Over Division game between the Mohawks and Mr. Transmission would determine which team finished second and which team would finish fourth. After a scoreless first period, Mr. Transmission opened the scoring on a goal from Ron Sartor 37 seconds into the second period. Chris Bruni increased the lead to 2 – 0, 31 seconds later. Mr. Transmission increased their lead to 4 – 0 on goals from Doug Laprade and Ron Sartor before Rick Reckla got the Mohawks on the scoreboard with 2:20 remaining in the second period. Eric Hicks and Roger Rosset scored for Mr. Transmission increasing their lead to 6 – 1. The Mohawks added 3 goals late in the third period, but came up short, with the final score being 6 – 4 for Mr. Transmission.

The stage is now set for the first night of Semi-Final action on Thursday. At 8:00, in the 35 and Over Division, first place Boissoneau Bus Lines will face the fourth place Mohawks. At 9:30, in the Open Division, first place Clarica/Blueliners will play the fourth place Soo Kings.

On Friday at 8:00, in the 35 and Over Division, second place Mr. Transmission will try to keep their back-to-back Mayor's Cup hopes alive against third place Weedman. At 9:30, in the Open Division, second place Godfrey Realty will try to oust the defending champs, Assante/Mr. Transmission, who finished third in the round robin portion of the tournament.

(Submitted by Rob Gibney)