by Ross Ackerson posted 03/17/2010
PREP HOCKEY: Eureka has to take a back seat to Oakville
Wildcats drop a 2-1 decision to Tigers in Wickenheiser cup final
By Bill Hester, Suburban Journals
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 10:40 AM CST
So much for the importance of momentum coming into the playoffs.
The Oakville hockey team was 0-for-2010 coming into the Wickenheiser Cup playoffs. That's right, the Tigers had not won a single game in the calendar year and had an eight-game losing streak entering this season's playoffs.
The Tigers were sixth in the seven-team Southwest Division of the Mid-States Hockey Association, having won just one of 11 conference games. And they were just 5-14-2 overall.
But during their playoff run Oakville was 6-0-1. It defeated the top two seeds in the Wickenheiser Cup, capped off by a 2-1 victory over Eureka Wednesday night in the Wickenheiser Cup championship game at the Scotttrade Center.
"We have a young team and played a tough schedule," Oakville coach Ben Lamberti said. "Instead of finding ways to win, we were finding ways to lose."
The Tigers, who scored just 15 goals in their 11 conference games, were thus inserted in the Wickenheiser Cup for the first time since they won the Challenge Cup in 2006.
"We thought going down to the Wickenheiser Cup was like a slap in the face," said senior Adam Loeffelman, who scored the game winning goal in the third period of the championship game. "But we took the approach that the playoffs were a fresh start and that records and seeds did not matter."
Oakville was seeded fifth and began with a series win over Fox, winning the best-of two series 7-3 and 7-6. They followed that with 2-0 and 3-2 wins over last year's Wickenheiser runner-up Priory. The Tigers then had to face top-seeded Holt in the semifinals. They tied the first game 2-2 but then had an offensive explosion in a 6-1 win.
"We are not used to playing in the Wickenheiser Cup but we could not feel sorry for ourselves," Lamberti said. "We set a goal at the start to win the tournament to win it. We prepared for this tournament like it was the Challenge Cup and it was nice for the seniors to be able to win that last game."
Eureka, unlike Oakville, came into the game with a lot of momentum having won 15 of its last 16 games. The Wildcats swept St. Charles West, Pattonville and last year's Wickenheiser Cup champion MICDS to advance to the championship game. The Wildcats scored first Wednesday as Ryan Gardner scored just three and a half minutes in.
Oakville's Blake Pschier tied the game midway through the first period and the game was scoreless until Loeffelman scored with 5:01 to play.
"I am just a little overwhelmed right now," Pschier said after the game. "The goal kind of just happened. It bounced off a kid's skate and I was able to shoot it in."
Eureka's Matt Vollmer was called for a cross checking penalty with 1:54 to play. The Tigers were able to possess the puck for almost the entire power play. Eureka was not able to pull its goalie until nine seconds remained and did not have a shot the rest of the way.
"We had a rough patch during the season where we just couldn't score," said Tiger senior captain Adam Papas, an All-Star who had an assist on Loeffelman's game winner. "It seemed like every bounce went the opponent's way. I had been in the Challenge Cup my previous three years and would have liked to have been there again. But we knew coming into the playoffs that we had a good team and were better than our record showed. We were on a mission and it is a great way to go out as a senior. Not many guys get to go out with a win."
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