LAURIE WEIR
The Smiths Falls Jr. A Bears staged a stunning third-period comeback and sealed the deal in overtime Sunday afternoon, knocking out the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the Central Canada Hockey League quarter-final series.
Facing elimination and roaring out of the gate, the Lumber Kings looked hungry in front of 736 fans at the PMC on March 30. Pembroke held a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes thanks to goals from Easton Penna and Jayson Alegria. They stretched that to 3-1 after two, with Alegria potting his second of the night and giving the Kings what looked like a comfortable cushion.
But the Bears weren’t ready to hibernate.
Smiths Falls flipped the script in the third. Davis Hails lit the spark before Kyle James tied it up, silencing the home crowd and sending the game to sudden death. Assists on the comeback came from Quinn Heins, Quinn Booth and Cameron O’Connell.
Then, in overtime, it was Booth who delivered the dagger, finishing a slick feed from Tyson Parker to cap off the series in dramatic fashion.
Xavier Tessier had the Bears’ lone goal in the first, and went on to be named one of the game’s three stars alongside Booth and Pembroke netminder Michael Modelski.
The Bears dominated the shot clock, outshooting the Lumber Kings 51-24. Ethan Morrow earned the W between the pipes, while Modelski took the hard-luck loss despite a strong performance.
In the other CCHL quarter-final matchup, the Brockville Braves evened their series 3-3 with the Navan Grads thanks to a 3–0 shutout win on March 30. That do-or-die Game 7 goes Tuesday night in Navan at 7:30 p.m.
Photos are from Friday, March 28th’s home game. See more photos and catch the recap here.
