For the first time since 2008, the Victoria Shamrocks are heading to the Minto Cup finals where they will face the Orangeville Northmen. Victoria defeated Okotoks in overtime of the semifinal game to advance to the finals, which start on Wednesday night.
Jake Gillis got Okotoks on the board first, but Victoria didn’t take long to answer and take the lead with Jackson Boyd and Zach Manns scoring back-to-back goals in less than a minute. Okotoks scored the last two goals of the first, taking a 3-2 lead into the second.
The back-and-forth play continued in the second as both teams continued to answer each other. Victoria took back the lead with an early two-goal run before Okotoks answered with a two-goal run of their own. Following a two-goal run from Victoria late in the second, Okotoks caught fire and scored three straight to go ahead 8-6 heading into the third.
While there was a ton of back-and-forth play to start the third, offensively it was all Victoria. Patrick Dodds and Austin Madronic scored two straight to tie things up at 8 for Victoria early in the period. Both Okotoks and Victoria had opportunities to score coming out of a timeout with just seconds left on the clock, but neither could convert as both defenses stood tall, forcing overtime.
Both defenses were very stout through the early part of the overtime period, but Victoria’s offense really popped off at the end to secure the victory. Austin Madronic scored and Ben Preston scored two straight within a minute to give Victoria the 10-8 lead with 2:16 in the period. Liam Phillips and Brian Robb added some sugar on top with two empty netters in the final minute to put this one to bed, giving Victoria the12-8 win.
Okotoks was led by Zach Mantei with five points (1G/4A) and Levi Anderson who tallied four points (2G/2A). In net, Jack Bruzell-Friesz made 51 saves with a .836 save percentage.
Austin Madronic led the way for Victoria with five points (2G/3A). Zach Manns also had four points (2G/2A) in the win for Victoria. In net, Cameron Dunkerley made 41 saves with an .837 save percentage.
Minto Cup Finals Schedule (Best of Five)
Wednesday, August 21st: Orangeville vs Victoria – 7:00pm PT
Thursday, August 22nd: Orangeville vs Victoria – 7:00pm PT
Friday, August 23rd: Orangeville vs Victoria – 7:00pm PT
Saturday, August 24th: Orangeville vs Victoria – 7:00pm PT (If Needed)
Sunday, August 25th: Orangeville vs Victoria – 7:00pm PT (If Needed)
