Top seeded Royals survive scare

The Atom CC West Island Royals escaped a hard fought Lions division semi-final matchup, emerging with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Lakeshore Panthers on Saturday.

Forward Fred McAuliffe provided the heroics for West Island, scoring the winning goal 3:38 into overtime. Streaking into the zone on his off wing, McAuliffe cut across the slot and let go a low shot that found the back of the net before being mauled by his exuberant teammates.

Despite being out shot and out chanced, the Panthers had an opportunity to steal the game in its waning moments. Picking the puck up in his own end, defenseman Charles Argento weaved his way up ice and found himself bearing in alone on goaltender Cedric LeSieur. Deking to his backhand, Argento appeared to have LeSieur beat, but a miraculous recovery kept the game scoreless with just 9 seconds remaining in regulation.

Royals forwards Cameron Winter and Mathew Alcorn were typically dangerous, leading a perpetual onslaught on the Lakeshore goal. While things didn’t end the way he would have liked, the star of the game was Lakeshore netminder John Wundele, who kept his opponents’ potent offence off the scoresheet through regulation and into the extra frame. The Royals peppered the Lakeshore net with shots from near and far, especially in the third period, but couldn’t solve Wundele.

West Island will now face the Lakeshore Tigers to determine who will represent the Lions division in the final. The Tigers defeated the Panthers 2-1 in a shootout Sunday morning to keep their hopes alive.

The two teams, who finished 1-2 in the Lions division, squared off three times during the regular season, each earning a 4-0 victory and skating to a 1-1 draw the last time they met. Since that exchange on January 10th the Royals have not lost in league play, sporting a 12-0-2 record including the playoffs, while the Tigers have gone 11-1-2, with their only loss coming in overtime earlier in the postseason.