Photo by Paul Wright

It wasn’t a must win situation for the Southern Shore Breakers, but it sure felt like it as they entered Tuesday night’s contest against the Stoney Creek Tigers. Knowing this, the Breakers relieved some of the pressure on them by doubling up Stoney Creek 4-2 and tie them for second place in the standings with one day of round robin games remaining.

Southern Shore struck first before the fans at the J.L. Grightmire Arena had even settled back into their seats following the anthem, scoring just 22 seconds into the game. Andrew Paul picked up the loose puck just outside the crease and potted it into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Then nearly five minutes later, Stephen Oates grabbed the puck in his own zone, skated around the defenders and across the crease stuffing it in the open side for a 2-0 lead.

Stoney Creek had some good chances to get on the board in the first, including a short two-on-one which was broken up just before a shot could get off. The Tigers would get on the board in the second when Dan Poliziani scored with the man-advantage cutting the Breakers lead to 2-1.

In the third, the Breakers regained their two-goal lead when Ryan Dawson stole the puck at the blue line and picked the top shelf of the Stoney Creek net at the 5:53 mark. That would turn out to be the winner, but Bobby Upshall made sure there was some insurance at 8:33 when he collected a rebound and slid it through the netmider’s pads for a 4-1 lead. Dalton Riley would get one back for the Tigers with 1:49 remaining in the final stanza when he backhanded a pass by Wiffen.

Whiffen would make 37 saves on the night, helping the Breakers to the win while Daniel Svdein stopped 35 of 39 shots in the loss.

All four teams will be in action on Wednesday with a lot on the line. The day will start off at 3pm with the Innisfail Eagles and Southern Shore Breakers facing off. Innisfail would need a regulation victory and some help to remain in the tournament. Then at 7:30pm the Dundas Real McCoys do battle with the Stoney Creek Tigers. Any point in the standings for Dundas will secure the bye to the championship game on Saturday afternoon. Both games will be played at the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas.

Players of the Game
Stoney Creek Tigers – Dan Polozoani (1G)
Southern Shore Breakers – Stephen Oates (1PPG)

Single game tickets are available at the J.L. Grightmire Arena doors on game days 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.

Following the round robin, the first-place team will receive a bye to Saturday’s championship game at 3pm on CHCH TV.  The first-place team will take on the winner Friday night’s semi-final game between the teams that finish the round robin in second and third place. The semi-final game will be played at 7:30pm. The semi-final will be shown live in the Hamilton area on Cable 14. Both the semi-final and championship games will be streamed live online at https://cable14now.com/live-streams/.

Upcoming Games
Wednesday April 24
Southern Shore vs Innisfail – 3:00pm
Dundas vs Stoney Creek – 7:30pm

Friday April 26
Semi Final – 3rd Place vs 2nd Place – 7:30pm

Saturday April 27
Championship – SF Winner vs 1st Place – 3:00pm