St. Marys Legion Minor Midgets have advanced to the final of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association ‘BB’ Division by defeating the Niagara-on-the-Lake Wolves in a five-game, six-point series.
After taking a 2-1 series lead last Thursday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Rock returned to St. Marys on Saturday hoping to finish the series at home.
However, NOTL had some fight left in them and a 1-1 tie game extended the series and provided for another trip Sunday to Wine Country and an exciting 1-0 overtime win for St. Marys.
St. Marys 4 - NOTL 1
Last Thursday, the third game of the series was one of the more evenly-played games between these two gritty teams. Both teams came out skating, hitting and creating scoring chances, with the home-town Wolves holding the advantage initially.
Charlie Irwin started the scoring for St. Marys late in the first period.  He picked up a loose puck created by his linemates and snapped a hard low shot for the goal, assists to Dante and Dominic Pieroni.
Wolves picked up their game for the next 15 minutes, and it was all Alex Campbell in net for St. Marys who kept the game close. Coming to the end of the second period with the match tied at 1-1, Dante Pieroni deflected a harmless looking shot from Brendan Near at the point. This powerplay goal brought the Rock back into the game as the third period was all St. Marys.  
The Rock clicked again, early in the third, this time with Dominic Pieroni scoring, assisted by Irwin. Hard-hitting defenceman Brett Hyatt completed the St. Marys scoring with an empty-net goal.
St. Marys 1 - NOTL 1 (OT)
Back in St. Marys on Saturday, the Legion Midgets could not find the momentum they enjoyed in Niagara-on-the-Lake in the previous game.
Wolves lived up to their team name as they came on with a ferocious checking game that stifled the Legion boys’ offence almost completely.  NOTL kept St. Marys bottled up in their own end for most of the game.
The Rock scored on a powerplay in the second period, with Dominic Pieroni banging one in off a quick pass from brother Dante with a second assist to Charlie Irwin from behind the net.
That was the extent of the St. Marys offence, and again it was Rock goalie Alex Campbell standing tall in the Legion net, allowing only the one goal, as the Wolves literally threw everything they had at him.
St. Marys was very fortunate to gain a tie from this game.
St. Marys 1 - NOTL 0 (OT)
While the NOTL Wolves were ferocious in the checking department, their lack of any creativity in the offensive zone was their downfall. After hitting everything that moved and taking the puck to the net and swatting at it there, there was little else they seemed able to do.
The NOTL game plan was not pretty hockey, but it made it difficult for St. Marys to play their own game. Wolves took away any space a St. Marys forward thought he had and the games were mini rugby scrums all over the ice.
Sunday’s match was a carry-over from Saturday, with tight checking and hitting, but this time the Rock were up to the fight. The game was much more even, though the Wolves still managed to hold the territorial advantage while both teams had a number of good scoring chances and the number of pile-ups in the respective teams’ goal crease was almost equal.  
Both goalies played very well in this game, with Alex Campbell being the busiest, but the NOTL goalie stole potential goals from Dominic Pieroni, Gord Cookson and Peter Williams to keep his team in the game.
Entering the overtime, with the score deadlocked 0-0, St. Marys knew they only needed a tie to win the series, but that was not a sure thing.  
Two minutes into the OT period, Matt Rutledge pounced on a loose puck off a face-off to the right of the Wolves’ goalie and calmly snapped a laser to the top blocker side, knocking the water bottle off the NOTL net to secure the St. Marys win and the series, seven points to three.
After taking a pounding during the series, the grit of the Legion Rock defence was put to a real test in this final game and they would have the upper hand.
Led by captain Andrew Davis, the blue-line corps of Brett Hyatt, Brendan Near, Connor Preston and Travis Robinson displayed a lot of courage and determination. With no help from the officials during the series, goalie Alex Campbell was a target for the entire NOTL team and was completely buried by bodies on several occasions.
Finally, at forward, having tough Curtis Stephen back from injury and getting back into his game was a big addition.
Upcoming: The Legion Minor Midgets now advance to the provincial ‘BB’ final against Huntsville. Huntsville beat Port Perry in six games in their semi-final series, seven points to five. That series was completed on Sunday as well.
Dates for the upcoming St. Marys-Huntsville OMHA final were not known at press time this week.