Bulls win OT thriller to move onto title game
The NA3HL Silver Cup Championship game is set after North Iowa defeated Granite City, 3-2 in overtime on Friday night. In other action, Cleveland finished the event with a 1-1 record thanks to a win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues.
Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks 7 vs. St. Louis Jr. Blues 4 – With Peoria already into the Championship game from Pool A, the game between Cleveland and St. Louis was all about pride on Friday. Cleveland finished off the Silver Cup Tournament with a 7-4 win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues on the final day of round-robin competition. The Lumberjacks finished the event with a 1-1 record, while St. Louis finished with an 0-2 record. Cleveland was propelled by five goals in the final eight minutes of the game after St. Louis led in the 3rd period at one point, 4-2. St. Louis opened the game with a 2-0 lead in the 1st period on goals from Kerry McGlynn and Sam Turner. Cleveland answered back twice in the 2nd period to tie the game at 2-2 on goals from Mike Palasics and Dallas Szustak. St. Louis reclaimed a two goal lead on goals from Ryan Hogland and Jeremy Edwards. Then came the string of five goals by the Jr. Lumberjacks, which included the second goals of the game from both Palasics and Szustak. Other goals came from Louis Sawchik and two others from Cameron Dimmitt to secure the 7-4 win for Cleveland. Boxscore
North Iowa Bulls 3 vs. Granite City Lumberjacks 2 (OT) – In an epic battle of two West Division rivals for a spot in the Championship game, it took overtime, but the North Iowa Bulls ended up winning just over two minutes into the extra session to move onto the title game. The Bulls jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a goal in the 1st period from Patrick Sivets and a goal in the 2nd period from Bryan Broders. However, the Lumberjacks didn’t quit, thanks in large part to the goaltending of Scott Murray, which kept Granite City in the game. The Lumberjacks finally broke through against the Bulls and goaltender Matt Bartels as Brett Love came in on a 2 on 1 and lasered a shot over the glove of Bartels to draw the Jacks to within 2-1. After a 3rd period, which saw both goalies make some great saves, the Lumberjacks tied the game on a late power play thanks to a nice shot from Drew Otto, who slipped a wrist shot over Bartels to send the game to overtime. In the overtime, Granite City had a couple chances to win, but the puck would not find the back of t3he net. It took the Bulls one chance to capture the game-winner, as a wrap-around attempt squirted out front right to an open Bobby Chapman, who slid home the game-winner past a sprawled Murray. With the win the Bulls advance to the NA3HL Silver Cup Championship game on Saturday against the Peoria Mustangs. Boxscore
The NA3HL Silver Cup Championship game is on Saturday, March 30th at 1pm (cst). It can be followed on the official website at: http://cup.na3hl.com/
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