Honeywood Norduffs claim OMHA Juvenile Championship

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

The Honeywood Norduffs are OMHA Juvenile champions after winning game six of their final series against the Cayuga Stars in overtime.

You can't find more exciting hockey than when two teams are playing the final game of a series with winner take all and they go into overtime.

The final game was played out in front of a packed house at Honeywood arena on Tuesday, April 2.

The series got underway on March 17, and ended with a 2-1 win for the Stars in game one.

Honeywood tied it up in game two with a 7-0 win on home ice on March 23.

The teams played to a 3-3 tie in game three on Cayuga home ice on March 24, to give each teams three points in the series.

The Norduffs were again behind after a 5-4 loss on home ice on March 30, but the kept the series alive with a 1-0 the following day to tie the series and force game six in Honeywood on Tuesday, April 2, with both team's season coming down to a single game to decide a championship.

There was a full contingent of fans from both Honeywood and Cayuga as the teams stepped onto the ice to battle it out.

The game was tied 2-2 in the second period.

Honeywood's first goal came from Austin Hamilton.

Norduffs forward Charlie Ardis scored with 1:30 left in the period to give the Honeywood team a 2-1 lead going into the third.

It was a tie game when Cayuga nit the back of the Honeywood net with 4:24 left in the third period. With neither team able to score they returned for a ten minute OT period.

Ardis got his second of the game and the championship winning goal at 2:54 into the overtime period to give the Norduffs the win and the championship.

“We knew we had to be the first to the puck and work the team – they're a good team – an our guys came out on top,” said Norduffs coach Ethan England after the game. “All our lines had a very strong game. We struggled the last few games with the penalty kill. Our guys just wanted it more. Our guys came out on top as the hardest working team on the ice. They dominated the first and got a short-handed goal right off the bat. Every game this series we got the first goal – it was just this game they got the first goal. Our guys dug down deep.”

The Norduffs also claimed the League championship with a win over the Drayton Defenders the previous week.