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Aces Win Title |
Posted By: JFDOUCET |
Saturday, April 7, 2012 |
Story courtesy of Journal Pioneer
The Aces rolled over the regular-season champions, Pownal Red Devils, 5-0 on Saturday afternoon to take the best-of-seven championship series 4-2. It marked the first time in the series that a home team won a game.
"It was in the back of my mind for sure," Aces coach Brian Hogan said of the tendency for the road team to post victories.
Before over 500 fans at the Tignish Credit Union Arena, Rylie Shea scored the series-clinching goat at 6:27 of the first period, finishing off a perfect pass from Brett Gaudet on a two-on-one play.
Jake Hackett picked up a 30-save shutout.
"It's good to win here, and getting the shutout just topped it all off," said Hackett, who admitted the Aces weren't looking forward to heading back to Pownal for a Game 7.
"The crowd's great here," he said. "We wanted to win it for the crowd and we wanted to win it for us. We really wanted to win at home."
Hogan noted Hackett was dependable in goal for the Aces all year.
The Aces led 1-0 after the opening period, and were out in front 4-0 heading into the final 20 minutes. Shea (2-1) made sure Pownal couldn't stage a late comeback as he made it 5-0 when Spencer Gallant from Alex Brennan sent him in alone on Red Devils goaltender Ben Jones, who faced 20 shots. Hogan said Shea's first goal relieved pressure for the hometown Aces.
"We always seem to play better with the lead," he said.
Brett Gaudet (1-1), Alex Brennan (1-1) and Bennett Knox also scored for the Aces. Picking up assists were Kirk Ramsay, Ryan Corcoran, Spencer Phillips and Spencer Gallant.
"Not winning a game at home all series kind of ate at us pretty good," said Tignish captain Spencer Phillips. "The fans are pretty supportive - a huge 50-50, almost $1,000 - you want to give them something to cheer about. We ended the season on a good note."
That's just what Phillips was hoping for in his final year of junior hockey.
"It definitely crosses your mind, but you want to finish the game hard, and not take anything for granted," he said of his desire to finish on a winning note.
The Aces haven't seen the last of the Red Devils just yet, though. The two teams meet in the opening game of the Maritime-North Junior C Hockey championship in Tignish on Wednesday night. The Aces are hosting the tournament, and Pownal is the P.E.I. representative.
Hogan admitted it is better going into the Maritime North tournament with the provincial championship in their pocket. Although this is the fourth time they’ve qualified for the tournament, this will be the Aces’ third time participating. It will be Pownal’s first.
The Aces, who lost Willie Gaudet to a checking-from-behind penalty just 37 seconds into Saturday afternoon's game, took five of the game's eight minor penalties.
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