Crusaders cruise to championship

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This article was published 01/03/2018 (3108 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Locked in a 2-2 tie midway through the biggest game of the season, the St. Paul’s Crusaders turned to one of their stars to make things happen.

It was probably more accurate to say defenceman Michael Lee seized the moment.

Lee gathered the puck behind his own net with a Sturgeon Heights defender in hot pursuit before racing the length of the ice to snap a shot over the glove of Huskies goaltender Randy Bjornson.

The stunning marker gave the Crusaders a one-goal lead in the middle period and they would go on to add four more in the third period en route to a 7-2 triumph in the deciding game of the best-of-three Winnipeg High School Hockey League Tier 1 final at the Bell MTS Iceplex. Lee’s goal appeared to break the Huskies, who started the game with a lineup reduced to 11 skaters by injury and suspension.

“Yeah, if I’ve got the lane it’s a green light to go,” said the speedy Lee, who added four assists in Game 3 and was named St. Paul’s MVP of the championship series. “I’ve gotta use my speed and make a play off that and hopefully it benefits the team.”

Sturgeon Heights, playing without an injured Cayden Onagi (named team MVP of the championship series) and a suspended Ryan Ostermann, gave the Crusaders a hard push in Game 3. After Carter Haugen had given St. Paul’s an early 1-0 lead, Matthew Mason-Vandel and Zachary Greenwood scored less than a minute apart to give Sturgeon Heights a 2-1 lead.

Riley Koshowski replied for St. Paul’s, tying the game 2-2 heading to the second period.

“We wanted to keep it close going into the third and then hopefully we could just keep wearing them down,” said St. Paul’s head coach Andrew Harder. “Then the floodgates opened a bit but, boy, it was a pretty exciting game.”

Haugen, with his second of the game, Matt Major and Mathew Sachvie, with his fourth and fifth in two games, scored during a four-goal outburst in the third. The Huskies looked exhausted.

“It was pretty tough when you’ve got 11 guys,” said Sturgeon Heights head coach Tyler Metcalfe. “Credit to St. Paul’s — they’re a good hockey team. They’re a very hard team to beat but I’m so proud of my guys. The fact they came to the rink today knowing that they were going to be going every second shift in the toughest game of the year, the last game of the year. The effort was unbelievable.”

Added Huskies defenceman and captain Mac Whitely: “It just caught up to us — the fatigue. It was just really evident the number situation but I thought we did good even with the numbers situation.”

Kyler Van de Mosselaer stopped 14 shots for the winners, who went 2-for-5 on the power play. Bjornson made 19 saves for the Huskies, who were scoreless in three power-play chances.

“It just matters that we got the win — that’s what’s important,” said Lee. “I’m glad we were able to do that. There’s no better feeling right now than what I’m feeling.”

Lee, in his third season with the St. Paul’s top squad, has now won consecutive city championships and will be looking to add a third straight provincial AAAA title next week.

“That would be the dream season,” said Lee.

Whitely and the No. 2-ranked Huskies hope to meet up the Crusaders again, this time with a provincial title at stake.

“We’ll look forward to it, we’re not upset with this loss,” said Whitely. “We’re going to take a positive out of it but we’ll look at the negatives and come back stronger and give them a run for their money in the provincials.”

Metcalfe was justifiably proud of his players.

“A lot of ups and downs with this group but one thing I never questioned was their heart and their passion,” said Metcalfe. “They never gave up to the end here. It would’ve been very easy mail this one in. It was a very daunting task with a full team, let alone half a team.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14