Saginaw earns 6-5 victory to eliminate Guelph in six games
GUELPH, ON -- The Saginaw Spirit will advance to the second round of the OHL playoffs for only the second time in team history following a heart-racing 6-5 victory over the Guelph Storm in game six Sunday night at the Sleeman Centre of Guelph. The Spirit will have home-ice advantage in the OHL conference semi-finals with a possible match-up against the Kitchener Rangers, or if the Plymouth Whalers beat the Rangers in their series which stands at three games apiece, the winner of the Windsor Spitfires-Erie Otters series. The Owen Sound Attack beat the London Knights in their playoff series and as the top seed holder will play the lowest ranked team remaining in the Western Conference playoff pool following the conclusion of the first round. Tickets are on sale now for Spirit home games one and two!The game featured an abundance of scoring, with Josh Shalla putting up four points in the effort with four assists, and Vincent Trocheck powering the goal scoring attack with two goals and an assist. Jordan Szwarz notched his fourth goal of the post season with a goal in Sunday’s contest, and Ivan Telegin, Brandon Saad and Dalton Prout rounded out the Spirit scoring.
The first period saw scoring from both teams. Guelph’s Michael Latta scored a power play goal at the 4:35 mark from winger Daniel Erlich to make it 1-0, and the Storm held the lead for some time before Spirit center Vincent Trocheck evened up the score at the 14:37 mark with a goal from winger Brandon Saad. Latta would tally his second of the night at 17:26 in the first with an unassisted goal making it 2-1, but the Spirit would respond immediately to make it 2-2 with Saad scoring his first of the post season at 19:54 from winger Josh Shalla and Trocheck.
The Spirit took the lead in the second period with three unanswered goals. Captain Jordan Szwarz tallied his fourth of the post season at 7:20, a power play goal assisted by Shalla and defenseman Ryan O’Connor, to make it 3-2. Defenseman Dalton Prout would move the score to 4-2 with a goal at the 11:28 mark courtesy Shalla and Saad, then center Ivan Telegin gave the Spirit a three goal advantage with a goal from center Mathew Sisca at 15:11. The second period ended with the Spirit up 5-2.
Saginaw’s grew their lead in the third period, with Trocheck scoring his second of the night at 3:46 from Shalla and O’Connor to make it 6-2 Saginaw. The Storm wouldn’t back down however, reducing the deficit to 6-3 with a goal from Defenseman Sam Lofquist courtesy blueliner Andrey Pedan at the 7:57 mark. Guelph continued to pressure, with center Peter Holland scoring a power play goal at 13:25 from Latta and winger Taylor Beck to make it 6-4. Latta netted the hat-trick with 1:56 left on the clock to make it a one goal game, his fifth goal of the series coming on the power play from Beck and Holland. Despite the pressure the Spirit were able to secured the victory and earn a berth in the OHL Conference Semi-Finals.
Spirit goalie Mavric Parks posted 33 saves on 38 shots to notch his 11th career post season win and 95th OHL career win. Storm netminder Brandon Foote posted 24 saves on 30 shots.
