Char-Lan boys forced to swallow bitter EOSSAA pill

After coming back from a two-goal deficit to win their second round-robin contest 3-2 against La Salle, the Crusaders boys hockey team was looking for a strong effort in the championship match and a second straight EOSSAA title.

Playing on home ice in Williamstown, Char-Lan faced off against Bishop Smith in a hard-fought final that once again saw the boys need a third-period comeback to overcome a two goal deficit. Kyle MacDougall found himself all alone in the slot, the recipient of a puck that somehow found its way through a crowd, and he made no mistake to bulge the twine for the equalizer that knotted the affair at 3-3.

However, a few minutes later, a Bishop Smith bullet put the visitors back in front once more, and they salted it away late with an empty-netter to round out the scoring in a 5-3 Char-Lan loss.

The defeat for the Crusaders likely means the team will not advance to the provincial championships, OFSAA, as they did a year ago, thus marking the end of this season having to settle for EOSSAA silver.