Clarington Eagles drop first game of 2023 post-season but still in running for provincial title
Published May 8, 2023 at 9:47 am
The dream of an immaculate playoff run for the Clarington Eagles is over but the bigger quest of a Schmaltz Cup is still very much alive after the opening weekend of the provincial Junior C championships.
The Eagles, who had strung together sixteen straight wins to qualify for the tournament, suffered their first loss of the post-season when the Wellesley Applejacks stormed back from a 5-3 second period deficit with four unanswered goals to win 7-5 in Friday’s opener in Elmira.
Clarington was back in action the next night at Garnett Rickard arena in Bowmanville and returned to their winning ways with a 4-1 decision over the Stayner Siskens – their last home game of the season as the tournament shifts to Woodstock for the final games this weekend. Dawson Manning led Clarington with a pair of goals Saturday to give him three goals and four points in the first two games.
Lakeshore Canadiens, the defending Schmaltz Cup champions after a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Clarington in last year’s provincial final, opened their tournament with a 4-1 win against Wellesley Saturday night but were beaten 4-2 Sunday by Stayner, giving all four teams identical 1-1 records heading into the final round-robin games Friday in Woodstock.
Wellesley meets Stayner at 5 p.m. and Clarington faces off against Lakeshore at 8 p.m. The semi-finals go Saturday with the Schmaltz Cup final on Sunday at 2 p.m.
All games this weekend will be at the Woodstock District Community Complex.
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