by No. 3 seed Kenston Bombers took on No. 7 seed Elyria Catholic in the semi-finals of the Baron Cup II Tournament (White Division). This was a very one-sided contest, with the Bombers winning 6-1 in a dominant fashion to advance to the championship game.
Junior Reece Newpher had a great pass to junior J.C. Pustai to get things going for the Bombers, but Pustai’s shot was just off the mark. Senior Gavin Rowell came back down to have a one-on-one matchup with the Elyria Catholic goalie, but his shot was just off the mark. Kenston started the game off fast and wanted to set the tone early.
The Bombers’ fast play continued, seeing freshman Sidney Richardson score the first goal of the game. This put Kenston up 1-0 just four minutes into the contest. Kenston was heating up as Pustai came right back to score a goal of his own. Pustai made the score 2-0 at the 7:45 mark in the first period. Junior goalie Logan Linsz was playing phenomenally for the Bombers and the intensity and physicality were picking up as the period ended.
The second period started with a little scuffle in the Elyria Catholic goal. This gave the Bombers a penalty shot which led to yet another score, once again being Rowell scoring. Rowell made the score 3-0 just 3 minutes into the second period. The Bombers were able to get the puck back right after the penalty shot and scored yet again. This time, Newpher got into the scoring column and put Kenston up 4-0.
Kenston was having their way and tempers started to flare with fans chirping and players getting into it. However, the game was relatively slow after the two goals early to start the period. Elyria Catholic couldn’t seem to get anything going and the Bombers took advantage of this to score right as the second period expired. This time seeing senior Luke Mack score and putting Kenston up 5-0 going into the third period.
The Bombers were hot and started the third period off just like the end of the second. Newpher was able to score yet again just 3 minutes into the final period. This put Kenston up 6-0 early into the third and forced a running clock. Kenston was controlling both sides of the puck convincingly but not much was happening late into the period. With just a few minutes to spare, Elyria Catholic’s senior Andrew Post was able to finally get the Panthers on the board. This made the score 6-1 to end the game.
