Barracudas, Centurions bask in glory

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This article was published 12/03/2020 (2284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was déjà vu, mixed with a dash of nostalgia and smothered with glory.

Indeed, for a group of Grade 12 students from the Collège Béliveau Barracudas, a three-year journey has officially come full circle. And they couldn’t have drawn it up any better, capping off their run with a 7-5 victory over the Glenlawn Lions to capture the Winnipeg High School Hockey League B Division championship at Seven Oaks Arena Thursday.

“My first year, in Grade 10, we made our final cuts in this rink,” Barracudas captain Alex Thor said after the game. “So it’s funny that this is where it started and now to end it here, it’s pretty special for the Grade 12s and it’s just nice to go out like this.”

The score hardly told the entire story of the game. Much like the Barracudas’ season, one that included being near the top of the standings for most of the year only to fall to fourth, Thursday’s battle with the Lions was an up-and-down-and-then-up-again affair.

Béliveau trailed 1-0 following a goal from Lions forward Liam Bosiuk midway through the first frame but tied it up just as time expired on the period. Alexander De La Ronde provided the goal, sneaking the puck past the goal-line with just 0.4 seconds remaining.

That seemed to shift momentum in favour of the Barracudas, who added the next four goals to take a commanding 5-1 lead. Evan Thor scored twice, while James Pinchin and Alex Thor each added a goal to round out the second-period scoring for Beliveau.

But some sloppy play by the Barracudas — and a bit of puck luck for the Lions — provided some much-needed life for Glenlawn. Lions forward Jacob Hudson cut Beliveau’s lead to 5-2 when his pass behind the net on the power play bounced up in the air and dropped into the net, fooling Barracudas goalie Samuel De Pau.

“They had the momentum going into the third period and we knew they were going to come out hard,” Béliveau head coach Scott Cawson said. “They got good coaches over there, so we knew it was going to be tough. The penalty certainly didn’t help us and they earned it.”

Right when the Barracudas looked to be in cruise mode, Evan Thor was called for checking from behind. The penalty meant Thor was ejected from the game and the Lions were given a five-minute power play.

They’d cash in, too, earning goals from Hudson and Connor Davis to make it a 5-4 game.

“That was a good wakeup call for the boys,” said De Pau, who made 22 saves and was named series MVP. “We kind of slacked off coming into the third and then after we realized they’re a goal away from tying us, everyone woke up, stepped on the metal and finished the game off strong.”

The Barracudas scored twice in a three-minute span, with markers from Cohen Cheung and Russel Buffie, to secure the win.

“When it came down, when it really mattered we started picking it up. We started scoring, started blocking shots and our goaltender stood on his head all season. Everyone started coming together as a group of brothers, everyone had each other’s backs and that’s what brought us to this moment right here,” said Alex Thor.

Cawson said the best-of-three series brought the best out in both teams. And he couldn’t be prouder of each side.

“We felt like we had that first game in the bag and they came back and scored two to beat us. The second game they were all over us but we managed to win,” he said. “And this third game we had a three-goal lead and they didn’t give up. They showed all the resilience in the world and I have a ton of respect for them.”

• • •

The Fort Richmond Centurions defeated the Murdoch MacKay Clansmen 5-2 in Game 3 Thursday at Seven Oaks Arena to clinch the Winnipeg High School Hockey League C Division title.

The Centurions took a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals from forward Randy Paterson. Clansmen forward Tyler Bradley got the home team on the board at the 9:38 mark of the second, while Nicolas Andrews made it 2-2 early in the final period.

That set the stage for series MVP Qingjia Zeng, who put the Centurions back on top with the game-winning goal just 54 seconds later. It was a hard-fought battle from there, until Fort Richmond sealed the game with two empty-net goals.

• • •

In other news, in light of the coronavirus outbreak, the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association announced Thursday it was cancelling this weekend’s provincial high school hockey championship and all provincial basketball championships.

“In addition, all badminton and other school sport activities will be on hiatus until further notice,” Chad Falk, executive director of the MHSAA, said in a statement.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton