The Waterloo Siskins are the 2019 Cherrey Cup Champions.
After dropping a tough decision in Game 5 by a 3-1 score in Listowel, the Siskins rebounded in a big way with a dominant 5-2 win at the Waterloo Rec. They scored early, with Sam Spaedt finishing a beautiful 2-on-1 and then Sam Cherrey minutes later made it 2-0 with a sharp snapper on another odd man rush. The power play then went to work as captain Alex Cimino sniped one from the point to make it 3-0 after one.
Waterloo kept the pressure coming in the second, scoring once more as Cherrey buried another power play goal, and the Siskins led 4-0 after 40 with Listowel not mounting much of a threat.
Into the third, and Owen Lane earned a penalty shot which Evan Morrison promptly stopped, which gave Listowel some late life as Brayden Krieger scored two quick goals with just over 5 minutes left to make things interesting. But the comeback was not in order Sunday, as Lane would pot an empty netter with just over 2 minutes left to seal the win for Waterloo, who beat Listowel 4 games to 2 as they claim their 9th Cherrey Cup in team history and their first since 2014.
Matt Onuska made 26 saves in the win, while Morrison made 17 on the day.
For Listowel coach Jason Brooks the season was one that saw a lot of growth by the team and its players.
"I'm very proud of them," said Brooks. "To start the year was really an unknown of where we'd get to and how we'd be."
Listowel had nine rookies on the club to start the season, led by a core group of veterans.
"These guys came together and played very good hockey for the entire season. We went through some ups and downs but in the end to get the number on seed they earned that. And battled hard throughout the playoffs and came up against a really good Waterloo team," added Brooks.
For the coach, it's an end of a chapter. While Brooks will still be involved in some aspects of the Listowel Cyclones organization to help them along, he will not be behind the bench next season. But there is no doubt, he and the team he has been with for the past five seasons has created memories and connections to last a lifetime.
"The part about coaching this organization that's been fun is the relationships, it's been the people, the players, the coaches that I got to work with," said Brooks.
Listowel has a chance to make the Sutherland Cup Semi-Finals as the wild card but that depends on the outcome of the St. Catherines/Niagara series.
If Nigara wins the series, Listowel will advance based on playoff winning percentage.
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2019 @GOJHL Cherrey Cup Champions, the @WaterlooSiskins !!!! pic.twitter.com/AgwWD1JgCs
— Ryan Drury (@CKNX_Drury) April 7, 2019
