Canadiens rally from four-goal deficit to beat Essex 73’s in OT
Mejoe Gasparovic capped a stunning comeback by the Lakeshore Canadiens on Sunday. Lakeshore trailed the Essex 73’s by four goals after the first period and by three goals after two periods, but rallied for a 6-5 overtime win with Gasparovic netting the winner at 4:54 of overtime. “They had a strong start, but we knew, if we didn’t give up and kept battling, we had a chance to win,” Gasparovic said. “Everyone bought in, persevered and chipped away until we got the job done.” With it, the Canadiens took a 3-1 lead on the defending champion 73’s in the best-of-seven Bills Stobbs Division final in the Provincial Junior Hockey League. Game 5 is Tuesday in Lakeshore Michael Vieira scored twice and Riley Meyerink and Sylvano Valente added single goals as the 73’s jumped to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes before a crowd of 913 at the Essex Centre Sports Complex. “We were in a hole that wasn’t very favourable for us,” Canadiens head coach Anthony Iaquinta said. “We had a choice. We could either give up and call it a game or we could put our heads down and start chipping away one by one.” Gasparovic and Matt Smith got the Canadiens within two goals, but Wyatt O’Neil replied to put the 73’s up 5-2 after two periods. Connor Rosaasen and Jarrett Tazzman scored in the first five minutes of the third period to make it a one-goal game and Stephane Crevier forced overtime with the tying goal with just under five minutes to play in regulation. “It took all 20 of us to do it and I’m glad we got to come out of their rink with the win,” Gasparovic said.
Lancer men’s volleyball: It was a historic victory for the University of Windsor Lancers men’s volleyball team on Saturday.
For the first time in school history, the Lancers are headed to the U Sports championship after winning the OUA bronze medal in Hamilton.
The Lancers captured the medal with a hard-fought win in five sets over the Ryerson Rams and took the match 3-2 by scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 22-25 and 15-10. “Great team win,” said Lancers coach James Gravelle, whose team lost a five-set match to Ryerson in the regular season in Toronto. “We are happy to have extended our season because we’ve had so much fun together since September and aren’t ready to be done.”
It was Gravelle’s sixth attempt at making nationals as both a player and a coach for the Lancers. Pierce Johnson led Windsor with 24 kills while Rolland Bouchard had 14 kills and John Moate added another 13 kills.
“It’s a great reward for the hard work put in by the players all these months,” Gravelle said. On Sunday, Windsor was handed the No. 8 seed in the eight-team national championship, which opens on Friday in Hamilton. The Lancers will face No. 1-ranked Trinity Western in quarter-final play at 8 p.m.
Watson helping Canada: Kingsville’s Corbin Watson and Canada’s Paralympic hockey team are 2-0 at the Parlaympic Games in South Korea.
The 31-year-old Watson stopped all four shots he faced in Canada’s 10-0 win over Italy on Saturday. Canada opened play with a 17-0 win over Sweden with Watson and Dominic Larocque each making one save to share the shutout. Canada is back in action on Monday against Norway.