Stayner / Alliston meet in Junior C final

March 11, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Alliston Junior C Hornets will once again head to the Junior C championship round and face the Stayner Siskins in the final duel for the North Conference title of the PJHL.

Alliston defeated the Penetang Kings 7-1 on Friday night, March 3, to end their best-of-seven semi-final series in five games.

The series was a close battle at the start with the Hornets winning Game One 6 – 5, then giving up a 5 – 2 loss in Game Two.

After taking Game Three with a 7-3 win, the Hornets seemed to blow the series wide open with an 8 – 1 win in game four in Penetang.

Returning to Alliston for game five the series ended when the Hornets dominated the ice and delivered an opening salvo that saw them take a 4-0 lead to end the first period. From there they kept up the pressure and ended the series with the win.

“I thought we got better. We had a week off prior to game one of the series. I thought we did a good job as the series got going. We played closer to what playoff hockey is supposed to be once we got going – which obviously we need to do,” said Hornets coach Darrin Shannon after Friday’s win. “There’s definitely some positives to go on as then series went on.”

The Hornets were plagued with injuries during this series as well as in their quarter-final against the Schomberg Cougars with several key players having to sit out.

But going into the final it looks like they’ll be back to full strength.

The Stayners Siskins finished the regular season in first place before knocking out the Caledon Golden Hawks in the quarter-final and dispatching the Midland Flyers in four games in the semi-final round.

Game One of the final series will get underway on Stayner home ice on Thursday, March 9.

Game Two is slated for Alliston on Friday, March, 10, at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of the North Conference Carruthers Division title will go on to meet the winner of the Pollock Division for the quarter-final of the Provincial Schmalz Cup championship.