Photo courtesy of Paul Wright

Friday night saw the semi-final game go down at the 2024 Allan Cup Challenge tournament being held at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, Ontario between the Southern Shore Breakers and the Stoney Creek Tigers. The penalty filled contest saw to the Breakers win 4-1 and advance to Saturday’s championship against the host Dundas Real McCoys.

Much like the Breakers last game, the contest started off tentative by both teams, but it was Southern Shore who got on the scoreboard first. The power play they were on has expired seconds before Kris Hodge scored his first of the tournament, snapping a shot from the top of the circle at 8:02 of the opening period. Stoney Creek appeared to have tie the game three minutes later, however, the officials waved the goal off and ruled it had been kicked in.

Southern Shore extended their lead before the period ended when Jeremy Nichols took Brandon Pye’s pass from the goal line and tapped it past the Tigers netminder for a 2-0 lead.

In the second period, it took just 48 seconds for the Breakers to go up by three when Kevin Reid scored on a penalty shot.

Stoney Creek would get on the board at the 4:10 mark of the period when Michael Ruberto stole the puck in his own end, skated down the ice and gave Paul Geiger a cross crease pass which he tapped in for a shorthanded tally. The Tigers had multiple chances to get within a goal, including a pair of short two-man advantages, but could not convert.

The Breakers effectively put the game away 2:11 into the third period when Stephen Oates tipped in a pass from Brandon Baird to make it 4-1 in their favour. Stoney Creek got a chance to get closer with 4:10 left in regulation when Southern Shore was called for a penalty and the Tigers pulled their goaltender, but they could not find the back of the net.

Neither team was able to score on the power play Friday night, a combined 0 for 15. The game would featuring 20 infractions, 46 penalty minutes and a penalty shot.

AJ Whiffen would pick up his third win of the tournament, trying Ryan Demelo of Dundas for the lead. He would make 41 saves. For the Tigers, Daniel Svedin would stop 25 of 29 shots on the evening.

Southern Shore will get a few hours to celebrate their semi-final victory as they will be back on the ice Saturday afternoon to face the Dundas Real McCoys in the 2024 Allan Cup Challenge championship game at the J.L. Grightmire Arena starting at 3pm. The game will be shown live on CHCH TV and streamed online at https://cable14now.com/live-streams/.

Players of the Game
Stoney Creek Tigers – Paul Geiger (1G)
Southern Shore Breakers – Stephen Oates (1G)

Single game tickets are available at the J.L. Grightmire Arena doors approximately 90 minutes before game time.

For the 2024 edition of the Allan Cup Challenge, fans can get the schedule, scores, standings and stats on GameSheet by clicking here and searching for “Allan Cup Challenge” or use the QR code located on the home page of the Allan Cup Hockey website.

Upcoming Games
Saturday April 27
Championship – Southern Shore Breakers vs Dundas Real McCoys – 3:00pm