Jordan Lacelle rocks Nickel City tournament

The Sudbury Minor Midget Bulldogs were more than pleased to put an end to a streak of overtime games Jan. 27 at the Ray Plourde Arena in Val Caron as championship play wrapped up the Nickel City Rocks Tournament.

With both the Atom A and Bantam A gold-medal encounters that preceeded them requiring a little additional time, the Bulldogs did their best to get organizers back on schedule, downing the Nickel City Devils 4-1, largely on the strength of a three-goal effort from Jordan Lacelle.

It was the second time this year that the Bulldogs have claimed a tournament championship at the expense of the Devils, edging the Nickel City crew 2-1 in overtime back in October to earn bragging rights at the Nickel City Super Stack Tournament.

Riley Waugh rounded out the scoring for the winners, with Connor Mick replying on the power play for the Devils, the only one of 19 shots faced by Alex Rheault that would foil the young Sudbury netminder.

Another pair of well-matched teams took the spotlight in the Bantam A final as the Kirkland Lake Blue Devils and Kapuskasing Ice Hawks waged their second consecutive one-goal game in as many days.

Harley Larochelle converted on a pretty feed from Deric Hebert 6:27 into the four-on-four session, lifting the Kap kids to victory, for a second time, over the Blue Devils.

Justin Jean and Chad Robert found the back of the net earlier in the contest for the Ice Hawks, while Dawson Breen countered with a pair of goals for Kirkland Lake, the second one coming with just 1:12 to play, sending the match to overtime.

It was a somewhat similar story in the Atom A affair as the Copper Cliff Redmen fought back from a 3-1 deficit, tying the game at 3-3 with 3:26 to play as Brett White tucked in his second of the game on a goalmouth scramble.

With less than five minutes expired in the fourth period, Massimo Cerilli rifled a wrist shot top corner, capping the Redmen comeback as Copper Cliff edged the Nickel City Devils 4-3.

Lucas Gigliotti rounded out the scoring for the Redmen, with Matthew Gordon, Eamon Dolphin and Spenser Dickson countering with markers for Nickel City.

Earlier in the day, the Peewee AA final apparently set the precedent as the Georgina Blaze clipped the Temiskaming Shores Pederson Puckhounds 3-2, also in overtime.

Marshall Waters scored the game-winner at 7:46 of overtime, with Patrick Patterson-Wing and Lucas Adams also hitting the scoresheet earlier in the game for the Blaze.

Hunter Foreshew and Kean Chartrand answered for the Puckhounds. The Nickel City Peewee A Flyers managed to garner some bragging rights for the host association, upending the Kapuskasing Angels 4-1 in their championship battle.

A two-goal effort from Hunter Demers powered the Flyers to victory, with Kiana Verbiwski and Nathaniel Goupil chipping in with one goal apiece, more than enough to offset the single tally from Matt Robert of Kapuskasing.

The Sault Ste. Marie McDonald's Maniacs lay claim to the Peewee A consolation crown thanks to a 3-2 win over the Nickel City Hawks. The Maniacs' offence came courtesy of Connor Malmoff, Kurtis Rodgers and Jacob Desjardins while Tanner Morrison and Riley Giroux countered for the Flyers.

Finally, the Novice A division proved a relative cakewalk for Sault Ste. Marie Rome's Rockets, blanking the East Nipissing Miller Homes Vipers 6-0 in the final.

Christian Omollo and Calem Mangone led the way with two goals each for the Soo, with Tyler Luczinski and Tyson Doucette bulging the twine once each.