The Listowel Cyclones came back home after a tough OT loss in game 5 to host the London Nationals in game 6 of the Sutherland Cup semi finals, again looking to punch their ticket to the franchise’s first ever Sutherland Cup final.
The opening frame was extremely feisty. Both teams threw some big hits that drew penalties and caused tons of scrums after nearly every stoppage. London looked to have new energy and legs as they came out flying trying to take the crowd away, but Max Wright stopped all 7 shots he faced, and David Ovsjannikov was excellent at the other end, stopping ten. The teams exchanged a number of chances, but ended the period tied at 0’s.
Listowel came out flying in the second and earned a power play, their 3rd of the game, and then Chayse Herrfort, who drew it, took a holding call and evened the ice up at four aside. Right away, Caleb Warren used the extra room to burst down the right wing on a 2-on-1 and sniped it far side to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead. Brenden Clayton and Keaton Willis got the helpers. After a stretch of back and forth stretch plays with both teams flying in the neutral zone, London evened it up off a shot from the point with tons of traffic in front of Max Wright, as defender Austin Jeffers let a hard accurate wrister go to tie it, with Matt Shuckett on the assist.. But with just over 5 minutes left, a chip play to the front from the corner saw Ben Van Ooteghem get to the doorstep and receive a feed from Chayse Herrfort to pound one past Ovsjannikov to restore the Cyclones lead. Danny Skinner had the other helper on the go ahead goal with a 2-1 score line heading into a momentous third period.
With a chance at a first ever Sutherland Cup looming, the Cyclones carried a power play into the period that became a 4-on-3 and then a 5-on-3 briefly, but still couldn’t connect on their man advantage. London began their desperation push, putting together a number of strong cycles below Wright’s goal line, and the Cyclones goalie answered, making 9 saves through the first 15 minutes. The Nationals continued to press and activate their D, trying desperately to even the score, and they finally did with just under 4 to play as Brandon Glover tapped it in on a nice feed from captain Brenden Trottier, and Colin Wilson on the other assist. But just 40 seconds later, Chayse Herrfort, who has a propensity for clutch moments, scored on the doorstep after a textbook Cyclones cycle play from below the goal line as Cullen Mercer found him with an excellent feed, and Ben Van Ooteghem had the other helper to make it 3-2. Then, Max Vinogradov took a really poor penalty on Blake Nichol, and gave the Cyclones a big late power play, during which the Nationals pulled Ovsjannikov to try and save their season, but Van Ooteghem would ice it with his 3rd point of the night into the empty net to seal a 4-2 win and 4-2 series triumph.
The Cyclones now move on to their first ever Sutherland Cup Final, where they will meet the Caledonia Corvairs, a perennial Jr. B powerhouse. It won’t get any easier from here, but they Cyclones are healthy, and experienced, and want the last piece of silverware to add to the mantle. The series could potentially open up as soon as Wednesday, with Caledonia hosting game 1. More on that to come, but no matter when it starts, it will be a thrilling finish to an unbelievable year in Listowel.
