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Photo's
courtesy of Allan Kirkland of
www.bemadesign.com
 It's
been 24 years, but finally the Lambton Cup is
returning to the team the won the original cup back
in 1987, as the St. Clair Colts defeated the
Northern Vikings 2-1 Wednesday night at the Sarnia
Arena.
"It was a
great game, Northern played really hard," said
forward Denver Spearman of St. Clair. "They played
us, they were better then what we thought but we
came out with the win and I think we deserved it."
The game
started strong for the Colts as Sean Smith had an
early breakaway chance off a steal in the neutral
zone, but his deke attempt was stopped by Brandon
Johnson. Both teams established a physical game
early on, making it difficult for shots to reach the
net.
But the
Colts would be the first ones to get on the board,
as Spearman won the face off which got onto the
stick of Matt Brandon, who let a low wrist shot go
from the blue line that beat a screened Johnson to
put the Colts up 1-0.
The
Vikings in the first were not able to get much going
and relied on long distance shots that were easily
sa ved
by goalie Seth Hellinga. Spearman would get multiple
chances to put away a goal, as a breakaway attempted
results in another stop by Johnson, while Kalen
Hellinga was not able to jam home the rebound.
The Colts
were able to walk away with the 1-0 lead after
the first.
In the
second, Elliott Pecora rang the post on a slap shot,
but it wouldn't take long for the Vikings to knot
the game up. In a mirror of the Colts goal,
defecemen Jeff Sit let a high wrist shot go from the
blue line that fooled Seth Hellinga, as a screen
left him no chance at the puck, and the game was
tied at 1-1.
The
Vikings would get more chances in the second as they
come on a two on one, but Hellinga was ready to make
the stop. Pecora had another chance, but the puck
was pushed off his stick before he could get a shot
away. Spearman, still looking to find the back of
the net found the waiting glove of Johnson in close.
But the
Colts would break the tie, as off the faceoff, Dan
Lumley would get around the Viking centremen, pick
up the puck and find a wide open Ryan Smith at the
side of the goal for the easy put in to make it 2-1
for the Colts.
The period
would come to a close as the Colts took the 2-1 lead
into the final period.
In the
third, Spearman had another in close chance, but
Johnson was able to make the save and push the puck
aside. Spearman would have three more chances in the
period, but the young forward was not able to get
anything on the scoreboard.
"I
couldn't finish today," Spearman said. "It was one
of those nights, but my team backed me up."
With time
winding down, the Vikings had their chances to tie.
Pecora was sent in on a breakaway, but the Colts
were able to catch up, and despite a penalty kill
off the play, they were able to keep the game in
their favour. The Vikings would find passing lanes
to move the puck quick, but when Hellinga wasn't
able to get across quick enough, his defence was
there to close the gaps.
with 1:32
left to play the Vikings pulled their goalie. But
the Colts kept the puck out of their own end, and
Spearman with seconds left on the clock, circled the
net, passed the screaming St. Clair fans and joined
his team in celebration as the Colts win the Lambton
cup 2-1.
In a
drastic turn around the Colts entered the season
finishing dead last in the Shamrock tournament. But
with key pick ups including goalie Seth Hellinga,
the Colts were able to have a turn around season
that ended in defeating
the Shamrock tournament champion Northern Vikings.
"it is
unbelievable home much these guys have brought
hockey spirit back to our school," said head coach
Craig Griffiths. "The strategy was to play our game
which was a dump and chase game and try and give the
other teams defence not a lot of time and space. It
worked but Northern played great, they played in our
end an awful lot. Our goalie, if he didn't play so
well it could have been a different story."
The
Lambton Cup caps off a turn around season for the
Colts who up till Wednesday had one Lambton Cup win
and only two other appearances in the Cups history.
"We
started working hard at practice, we got confident,"
said Spearman. "We're on top now."
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