Minto 81’s push Creemore aside to gain berth in final
CREEMORE – The Minto 81’s are headed to the Ontario Elite Hockey League’s championship series.
The 81’s gained their berth in the final with a 7-1 win over the Creemore Coyotes in semifinal play Saturday at the Creemore and District Recreation Centre.
The win gave Minto a 4-1 victory in the best-of-seven series.
The 81’s surrendered a goal in the first two minutes of the Game 5 Saturday before coming back with seven consecutive goals. It was the same script as Game 4 when Creemore scored in the first minute at the Palmerston and District Recreation Centre Complex before the 81’s scored six in a row for a 6-1 victory.
Saturday, Minto led 3-1 at the end of the first period and 5-1 after the second.
Creemore’s JD Falconer opened the scoring at 1:51 of the first period with help from Kevin Boyd.
The 81’s tied it 1:40 later and went ahead for good with a power-play goal at 9:29 of the first.
Klayton Hoelscher had a hat trick for Minto while single goals were netted by Jordan Delaurier, Owen Torrie, Blair Butchart and Kyle Heintzner. Riley Cribbin and Caleb Warren each had two assists while single assists were given to Butchart, Heintzner, Justin Graham, Torrie and goaltender Mark Williams.
Shots on goal were not reported.
Williams was in net for Minto while Creemore had Mason Kameka in net.
The 81’s went 2-for-3 on their power play and held the Coyotes scoreless on five power plays.
Minto had finished the regular season in third place with a 13-6-1 (W-L-OTL) record while Creemore was second at 14-5-1.
The 81’s are to play the winner of the other semifinal between the first-place Ripley Wolves (16-1-3) and Tavistock Royals (13-7-0) in a best-of-seven championship series.
Tavistock leads the other semifinal 3-2 after Ripley scored a win in double overtime in Game 5 Saturday at Ripley. Game 6 is set for Sunday afternoon at Tavistock and if Game 7 is needed it’s to go Tuesday night at Ripley.
The 81’s are looking for their first championship win since taking the Western Ontario Athletic Association senior A title in 2008. The league was rebranded as the OEHL during the offseason between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons and is a member of the Ontario Hockey Association.
- Guelph Sports Journal