Bantam Hounds, Thunder earn championship berths

The Soo Greyhounds Bantam AAA team clinched a spot in Sunday's Major Bantam finals in the 24th Annual Steel City Hockey Tournament with a convincing 7-1 victory over the Motor City Jr. Chiefs late Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gardens.

Meanwhile, the Soo Thunder completed a perfect round robin record and secured a berth in the Bantam AAA Minor championship after a 17-0 win over the Wawa Travellers.

The Greyhounds win was the fourth straight in the tournament for the team, which finished in top spot in the double round robin tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.

The record included two wins each over the Northshore Mercs, by scores of 13-0 and 10-0 on a pair of wins over Motor City, 2-0 on Friday and Saturday's 7-1 victory.

The Bantam Hounds fell behind early on in the game as Motor City's Doug Lendensmith beat Soo goaltender Justin Hogsden at 1:59.

From then on, it was all Greyhounds. They got on the board at 12:16 when Mike Rivard tied the game at 1-1. Greyhounds head coach Domenic Deluca called a timeout shortly after the goal to rally his troops and it paid off as the Bantam Hounds took the play to the Chiefs for the rest of the night.

Brett Perlini opened the second period with a pair of goals for the Bantam Hounds, the first coming at 8:49 and the second coming at 10:08 giving the Bantam Hounds a 3-1 lead. Jerry Petingalo increased the lead to 4-1 later in the period when he buried an opportunity past Kyle Washer in the Chiefs goal.

The third period saw the Bantam Hounds seal the win with a trio of goals. Luke O'Brien scored at 4:42 to make the score 5-1 and Dean Howard and Geoffrey Gieni then traded goals later in the period to cap off the Sault scoring.

The Bantam Hounds, who carried the play for much of the game, received praise from their coach following the win, although he said the timeout he used early on in the game was important.

"I called the timeout because I wasn't happy with the way we were playing," Deluca said. "After that we played a lot better. The players got a little wakeup call when I called the timeout. (Motor City's) goaltending was outstanding. (The score) could have been a lot worse."

Deluca went on to say that he feels his team will be well prepared for whoever they face in Sunday's final, which will take place at 3 p.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The team, which has been together for nearly two full seasons now, has been a force throughout much of that time currently holding a 49-9-1 record overall this season alone. "The kids will definitely be ready," Deluca said. "They're motivated. Winning a championship is another rung in the ladder for us. They're a pretty special group of kids. I really think we're one of the top ten teams in the province if we're focused.

"You can't just play when you want to," Deluca added. "It's tough to stay focused, especially at this age. Just to go out there and continue to work hard is important. As a coach you have to be creative to get the players motivated."

The Bantam Hounds will now await the winner of the Major Bantam division's semi-final which will be taking place on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. between the Northshore Mercs and Motor City Jr. Chiefs at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

*** SOO THUNDER:

The Soo Thunder capped a perfect 4-0 round robin by smacking the Wawa Travellers 17-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Dereck Hurley paced the attack with five goals and two assists. Brett Thompson scored three goals and setup four others, Matthew Amadio recorded three goals and two assists while Richard MacLennan added three goals.

Drew MacMillan scored twice and added three helpers while Mickey Sartoretto chipped in a goal and two assists. Greig Dear recorded four assists while Mark Zagordo and Michael Paul setup two each.

Michael Doan picked up the shutout in goal.

The Thunder will face the winner of the semi-final game between the Marquette American Legion and the St. Catherines Sabres in the final beginning on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

(With files from Ken Hilderley)