|
Weyburn's run in the SJHL playoffs is over, as the Melville Millionaires defeated the Red Wings four games to two in the best-of-seven Sherwood Conference semifinal. The final nail in the coffin came on Sunday night at the Colosseum as Melville defeated Weyburn 2-1. Melville hit the board first, but the Wings tied the game in the second period with a goal from Bordeleau assisted by Anderson and Moore at 1:00 on the powerplay. Daniel Moriarty scored for the game-winning goal for the Millionaires at 11:29 of the third period to end the Red Wings' season. McConnell started in goal for the Wings and faced 34 shots. "We just couldn't get the other goal to go in," head coach Dwight McMillan said. "We tried and worked hard, but that is as far as we got." Game five took place on Saturday with the Moneymen picking up a 7-6 win in overtime to tie the series at three games each. Melville opened with an early 2-0 lead until Preston Shupe scored for the Wings at 17:49 of the first period on the powerplay, assisted by Bordeleau and Schweitzer. The Millionaires potted a goal two minutes into the second frame, but Calibaba replied at 3:22 with assists by Seib and Bassingthwaite. With the score 5-2, Bordeleau scored a late goal at 16:10 of the second period to narrow the gap with assists from Lillejord and Connor Krukowski. Melville restored their three-goal lead at 3:23 of the third period, but the Wings didn't give up. Weyburn scored three unanswered goals before the end of the period to send the game into overtime. The first goal was scored at 5:05 by Moore with assists from Shupe and Jean-Sebastien Bergeron. Bordeleau scored his second of the game at 7:01 with assists from Anderson and Moore on the powerplay and Lillejord sent the game into overtime at 14:21 assisted by Bordeleau and Josh Bray. At 3:09 of overtime, Melville's Dion Campbell found the back of the net to put Weyburn one step closer to elimination. Jason Lindner got the start in goal for the Red Wings and faced 45 shots. "It went down to who got the last shot and Melville got it," McMillan said. "All I can say is we played as hard as we could." Melville tied the series at two games a piece on Thursday night at the Colosseum, defeating the Red Wings 4-1. The Millionaires, once again, opened up with a 2-0 lead until Stephen Simms scored short-handed at 11:42 of the first period. Melville added one more to end the first 3-1. After a scoreless second period, Weyburn pulled McConnell for the extra attacker at 18:35, but the Moneymen found the back of the empty net with about 20 seconds left in the game. McConnell faced 23 shots on goal as Weyburn outshot Melville 25-23. On Monday, the SJHL announced that McMillan was fined $300 for "confrontational actions" following Thursday's game. Weyburn took a 2-1 series lead after a 7-4 win in Melville on March 6. Melville opened the scoring in the first period, however, Weyburn replied at 5:07 with a goal from Brendon Vertefeuille assisted by Eric Calibaba and Scott Doody. The Red Wings then took a 2-1 lead at 10:45 with a goal from Sean Bassingthwaite, assisted by Kyle Haines and Trenton Moore, on the powerplay. Vertefeuille put home his second of the game at 11:35 of the first period with assists from Marc Schweitzer and Jared Smale to give the Red Wings a 3-1 lead. Melville added one more before the end of the period to finish the first period 3-2 in favour of Weyburn. Ian Lazar scored his first goal as a Red Wings at 7:50 of the second period, assisted by Brayden Nargang and Michael Seib, to restore Weyburn's two-goal lead. Bassingthwaite then added his second of the game at 10:10 of the second frame on the powerplay, assisted by Schweitzer and Chad Anderson. After Melville scored at 12:48, Weyburn came back with a goal from Kent Lillejord at 15:47, with assists from Patrick Bordeleau and Marc Schweitzer, to give the Red Wings a 6-3 lead. In the third period, the two teams traded goals with Lillejord scoring his second of the game at 13:26, assisted by Smale and Bordeleau. Kyle McConnell faced 42 shots in the Weyburn goal as the Red Wings were outshot 42-33. In both March 6 and Thursday's games, as soon as one of the teams got the lead, they went into a defensive mode to protect it. "Both teams are very evenly matched so if one guy got a little bit of a toe in the door then he would hang onto it," McMillan said. Melville will now face the Yorkton Terriers in the Sherwood Conference final. |
Box 400, 904 East Avenue
Weyburn, SK
S4H 2K4
Phone: (306) 842-7487
Fax: (306) 842-0282
E-mail: production@weyburnreview.com
This web page and its contents are copyright of the Weyburn
Review (1987) Ltd.
