Alliston Hornets claim 2014-15 GOMHL Championship

March 11, 2015 · 0 Comments

Brandon Savoy is checked into the Alliston net in Sunday’s loss to the Hornets. The Hornets swept the Cougars in four games to take the GMOHL championship.
Photo by Jake Courtepatte
By Jake Courtepatte
And in a heartbeat, the Schomberg Cougars’ unpredictable playoff run was over.
The powerhouse Alliston Hornets proved to be too much for the Cougars, sweeping the Georgian Mid-Ontario Hockey League final series in four quick games.
They flexed their offensive muscle when the series opened, just last Wednesday, in a 5-1 victory that had four unanswered goals and 11 power play opportunities for the Hornets.
The onslaught continued the next day at the Trisan Centre when the Cougars surrendered a 7-1 loss to go down in the series 2-0.
Game three on Sunday was a much more even affair, with the Cougars getting the first handful of chances in their effort to even up the series. The first came off the stick of Mitchell Robinson, when he just couldn’t find the handle on a 2-on-1. Mid-way through the first, Cam Russell was stopped right on the goal line when a one-timer was stopped by the toe of Alliston goaltender Tyler Brindle.
It was Alliston that opened the scoring after a questionable goaltender interference call on Brandon Savoy. On the power play, Nic Archibald banked it in off goaltender Taylor Ewart from the side of the net.
Schomberg had another chance to even the score before the end of the period, as Kiefer McIntosh was stoned by a sprawling goaltender on a break-away with time running out.
Penalty troubles were the coup de grace for the Cougars in this one, as the Horneys doubled their lead with Brandon Yorke in the box for hooking midway through the second. Ewart stood very little chance on a blast from the point that he never saw.
Savoy gave the Cougars life with ten minutes left in the game, notching his sixth goal of the post-season unassisted to cut the lead in half.
Unfortunately, the Hornet power play was unstoppable. They took a 3-1 lead just over a minute later when Steve Griggs fought off Derek Neilly in front of the Schomberg net to restore the two-goal lead.
Brindle put the Alliston team on his back for the rest of the game, highlighted by another big toe save, this time on a Justin Formenton one-timer with six minutes to go. The Hornets took the game 3 -1, a lead that proved insurmountable.
The series ended on Schomberg ice Monday, with a 3-2 Hornets win at the Trisan Centre to cap off a four-game sweep for the GMOHL championship.
The Hornets are no strangers to the podium, having now won the championship in seven of the last eight seasons.
They now head to the 2015 incarnation of the Clarence Schmalz Cup, Ontario Junior C-level’s highest honour that they won previously in 2010.