CALEDONIA – The next hurdle in the way of the Caledonia Pro-Fit Corvairs and another kick at the Sutherland Cup will be the Elmira Sugar Kings. The GOJHL OHA semi-finals begin Thursday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Haldimand Centre.
Elmira beat the Listowel Cyclones in six games to advance to the final four.
The defending Sutherland Cup Jr. B Champions, the Caledonia Pro-Fit Corvairs eliminated the pesky St. Catharines Falcons Friday night in St. Kitts winning the Game 6, 5-2.
Outside a huge second period when Caledonia scored three unanswered goals, this game was much closer than the score may indicate.
Falcon’s Brandon Skubel brought the large St. Catharines crowd into the game at 6:54. A defensive miscue resulted in Zachary Core evening the score at 1-1 unassisted at the 17:30 mark.
Caledonia punched the wind out any momentum St. Kitts may had going with Ryan Punkari, Bailey Fletcher and Jamey Lauzon gave Caledonia an insurmountable 4-1 lead.
Quentin Maksimovich poked the Falcons in the eye turning what they hoped would be a game changing powerplay into a shorthanded Caledonia goal to make it 5-1, early in the third. Tanner Ferreira recorded the last goal of the season for St. Catharines at 4:27 for the 5-2 final score.
The post season began for the Corvairs with a “bye” in the first round before taking out the Ancaster Avalanche in four straight games in the Conference semi-finals. That put the Falcons and the Corvairs together for the Conference Final, which they won four games to two.
The London Nationals won the Western Conference title and will play the Listowel Cyclones starting April 14.
The Sutherland Cup semi-finals will set the three conference winners along with the team with the best winning percentage from Rounds 2 and 3 of the playoffs, to open the series. Round 1 is being skipped because Caledonia had a bye. The only stipulation after the teams earn their way to the semi-final is that teams from the same conference cannot play each other in the semi.
The winners play for the Sutherland Cup. The Nationals faced Caledonia in the finals last year and lost to the three-time champs. The Nationals last won the Cup in 2013.
Corvairs vs. Elmira Playoff Schedule
GAME 1 Thursday April 13 Haldimand Centre 7:30 pm
GAME 2 Sunday April 16 Dan Snyder Memorial 7:00 pm
GAME 3 Tuesday April 18 Haldimand Centre 7:30 p.m.
GAME 4 Wednesday April 19 Dan Snyder Memorial 7:30 p.m.
* GAME 5 Friday April 21 Haldimand Centre 7:30 p.m.
* GAME 6 Sunday April 23 Dan Snyder Memorial 2:00 p.m.
* GAME 7 Monday April 24 Haldimand Centre 7:30 p.m.
