Photo courtesy of Paul Wright

Saturday afternoon drew a capacity crowd to the J.L. Grightmire Arena in Dundas, Ontario to see the hometown Real McCoys take on the Southern Shore Breakers in the championship game for the 2024 Allan Cup Challenge.

The same two teams opened the tournament a week ago with Dundas picking up the 3-2 victory, the only loss Southern Shore would have in the round robin. However, it was a much different game than the first time they faced each other.

It didn’t take long for the first puck to enter the net of the championship contest, but the Breakers goal at 1:10 was waved off due to incidental contact with the McCoys goaltender. Almost four minutes later, Dundas officially opened the scoring when Slatter Doggett’s shot from the hash marks along the boards rode up the stick of AJ Wiffen and into the top of the net.

The score remained 1-0 for the hosts until the final minute of play when Jake Goldberg’s snapshot from the top of the circle found a way in to double the McCoys lead.

In the second period, Dundas exploded for four goals, to take a huge 6-0 lead. Cam Fergus started the scoring parade 4:38 into the middle stanza followed by Nathan Longpre at 10:10. Igor Gongalsky and Mackenzie Wood finished off the scoring for Dundas in the frame with goals 27 second apart at 18:22 and 18:49 respectively.

Southern Shore would get a moral victory, ending Ryan DeMelo’s shutout bid with 3:22 left in the third on Ryan Dawson’s third goal of the tournament.

The Real McCoys would go on and get the victory and win their second Allan Cup Challenge in as many years. The last team to host the cup in back-to-back years was the Warroad Lakers who won the cup three consecutive years (1994, 1995 and 1996).

DeMelo made 33 saves on 34 shots in the championship game, while Wiffen ended the contest with 35 saves.

Players of the Game
Southern Shore Breakers – Travis Randell
Dundas Real McCoys – Mackenzie Wood (1G, 2A)

Following the game, the Allan Cup Committee handed out the tournament awards to the following winners.

2024 Allan Cup Challenge All-Star Team
Forwards: Phil Brewer (Dundas), Brad Bonello (Dundas), and Cordell James (Stoney Creek)
Defense: Travis Randell (Southern Shore), and Justin DaSilva (Dundas)
Goaltender: Ryan DeMelo (Dundas)

Top Defenseman – Travis Randell (Southern Shore)

Top Forward – Phil Brewer (Dundas)

Tournament MVP – Ryan DeMelo (Dundas)

With the conclusion of this year’s tournament, the Dundas organizing committee hands off the tournament to the Innisfail Eagles who will host the 2025 Allan Cup Challenge tournament.