Zachary Pearson said he saw opportunity Sunday as he skated in on an empty net in the Bantam AA Silver Stick final at McMorran Arena.

The St. Clair resident made the most of his opportunity, burying a shot to seal the Grosse Pointe Bulldogs’ 4-2 victory against the Mississauga Jets.

“It was nerve-racking,” Pearson said. “Skating on an empty net is always nerve-racking. I can’t explain (the feeling). I knew we were winning, that’s what I felt right away.”

Pearson’s goal capped off a wild day of hockey at McMorran Arena as the Port Huron International Silver Stick finals came to a close. Two of the four finals went to overtime, including the Bantam A game that saw the Quinte West Hawks defeat the Strathroy Jr. Rockets 1-0.

That was followed by the Bantam AA final, which featured the top-ranked team in the United States against the top-ranked team from Ontario. It played out that way, as the teams traded punches in the third period before Pearson delivered the knockout blow with 1 minute, 1 second remaining.

“Last year we played them at Nike Bauer, then we watched them play our arch nemesis Plymouth and take it to Plymouth, who plays us really tough, so we thought this was going to be just a bear,” Grosse Pointe coach Geoff Welsher said.

Logan Jenuwine and Marshall Vyletel each had a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs, while Theo Calvas added a goal. Gunner Markiewicz and Mac Welsher each had an assist.

Robert Debono and Mitch Labute each scored for the Jets, with assists from Alec Simons and Sean Huckvale.

Vyletel’s goal was the game-winner, as he gave the Bulldogs the lead with 3:21 remaining, breaking a 2-2 tie.

“I’m an Englishman (from Wales), and they’re gruff men there, and I was fighting back tears there, because there’s so much heritage in the Silver Stick,” Geoff Welsher said.

The Bantam A game ended on a Dawson Whyte goal 6:54 into overtime. After an initial Quinte West shot was blocked, it came right to Whyte, who wasted no time in depositing a rocket in the back of the Strathroy net.

“(Joshua Hogan) took the shot and it went off a guy, and I just took a shot and it went in,” Whyte said.

Quinte West is 50-1 on the season, and has won 31 straight tournament games.

“That’s our first overtime game of the year,” Neron said. “We told the kids to hold their heads high no matter what happen. Win or lose, we had a great weekend.”

Strathroy goaltender Matt Boere was strong throughout the game, turning aside chance after chance as the Hawks controlled much of the game.

“Normally when you sustain that much pressure, things are going to happen and you might get a lucky break. You just have to keep plugging away; keep plugging away and hopefully one pops in for you.”