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Mission 94s Win Bell
Challenge Cup in a Holiday Sweep
The
Chicago Mission Peewee Major 94s
won the renowned Bell Challenge Cup championship over
the holidays, and did so in thrilling fashion, beating
the Rochester Monarchs 3-2 on a goal with six seconds
remaining in regulation time.
The
Bell Challenge Cup is one of the most prestigious Peewee
tournaments in the world, and each year draws many of
the best teams in North America to it. The Mission
became the first American team since 2000 to win the
tournament. |
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The
Mission 94s began their quest for the cup on Wednesday
with a 3-2 win over the NY Rangers, a select team out of
New York. On Thursday, they first handled the Guelph
Storm by a score of 5-0, and later in the day closed out
their round robin with a 3-1 win over the North York
Rangers. Solid team defense was the recipe for success
in both of Thursday’s games. |
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The
Mission faced the Ajax Pickering Rangers on Friday
morning in the round of sixteen and came through with a
4-1 victory, taking a perfect 4-and-0 record into the
Quarterfinals that afternoon. Their quarterfinal
opponent was the Mississauga Rebels and the teams needed
more than three periods to settle things. But when
Hunter Coleman scored in the first overtime, the
Mission had earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
The
win over Mississauga put the Mission into Saturday
morning’s semifinal against the Syracuse Stars. Great
goaltending was the theme of this game as the teams were
deadlocked in a scoreless tie deep into the third period
before Mission forward Tim Lappin scored the
winner, propelling the Mission into the Finals against
the Rochester Monarchs.
The
Finals game was everything the fans could have hoped
for. With the Monarchs relying on their stellar
goaltender and clinging to a 2-1 lead as the clock kept
ticking off in the third period, the Mission once again
found a way to get it done. Pulling their goalie for an
extra attacker in the last minute of regulation, they
were able to tie the game at 2-2 on a goal by Tommy
DiPauli. And with another overtime game looming,
and Rochester still reeling from the late goal, the
Mission found lighting in a bottle a second time. The
play began when Sam Piazza forced the puck into
the corner to teammate Jimmy DeVito, who found
sniper Tim Lappin in the slot for the winner with
just six seconds left in the game.
“This was an amazing run for us,” said Coach Kurt
Kabat. “The kids just played great throughout the
tournament and refused to give up in any situation. I’m
so proud of these kids and how hard they played to
become the champions. They definitely earned it.”
Individual Player-of-the-Game honors were awarded during
the course of the tournament to Tim Lappin
(twice), Coleman, DiPauli, DeVito, Vince Hinostroza
and Jared Rutledge. |
