Spirit Win Second Straight at 2024 Memorial Cup
Published on May 27, 2024 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release
Saginaw Spirit's Hunter Haight on game night
(, Credit: Eric Young/CHL)
SAGINAW, MI - Yesterday, Hunter Haight (2G) scored twice as the Saginaw Spirit beat the Drummondville Voltigeurs 4-3 to win their second straight at the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow. With the victory, the Spirit have assured themselves at least a spot in Friday's semi-final.
Alex Christopoulos (1G) and Nica Sima (1G) also scored for Saginaw as Andrew Oke turned away 21 shots. Luke Woodworth (1G-1A), Peter Repcik (1G), and Justin Côté (1G-1A) found the back of the net for Drummondville, who are now 0-2-0, while Riley Mercer stopped 27 shots.
"I liked the perseverance we showed today being down two goals and coming back and playing the right way," Haight said.
Trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, Sima buried the equalizer at 5:54 as he potted a rebound after Mercer had stopped Zayne Parekh (1A) who was wide open in the slot.
The Spirit took their first lead of the night with 7:44 to play as Haight's shot found its way through Mercer to give the hosts a 4-3 lead that they never relinquished.
"Throughout the season we've been there a million times going into the third period down a couple," Haight said. "It's adversity we've seen all throughout the season ... and we knew what we were capable of and stuck to the plan and knew we'd come out on top."
Drummondville, who were shut out in their tournament opener Saturday by London, scored their first goal of the Memorial Cup through captain Woodworth who beat Oke five-hole on a one-timer at 9:00. The lead was 2-0 at 17:34 as Repcik cleverly banked in a puck out front on the power play after Vsevolod Komarov's (2A) point shot had ricocheted off the boards.
But Saginaw fought back in the second; Christopoulos got Saginaw on the board at 12:04 on a wrister from the high slot before Haight buried Michael Misa's feed down-low at 15:45 to level the scores.
However, Côté gave the Volts a late lead with a seeing-eye shot on the power play with 44.9 seconds left in the frame to make it 3-2.
Michael Misa (3A) was named Player of the Game after he had three assists in the victory.
"It was nice to get that but at the end of the day I was happy we won," Misa said. "That's the main goal in every game at the Memorial Cup."
Saginaw will face London Wednesday in their round-robin finale while Drummondville will battle Moose Jaw Tuesday in a game they must win to keep their Memorial Cup hopes alive.
Upcoming Games
Today @ 7:30 p.m. ET - London Knights vs. Moose Jaw Warriors (TSN1/3/4/5, RDS & NHL Network)
Tuesday, May 28 @ 7:30 ET - Drummondville Voltigeurs vs. Moose Jaw Warriors (TSN1/3, RDS et NHL Network)
Wednesday, May 29 @ 7:30 p.m. ET - Saginaw Spirit vs. London Knights (TSN1, RDS2 & NHL Network)
Images from this story
 Saginaw Spirit's Hunter Haight on game night (Eric Young/CHL) |
Central Hockey League Stories from May 27, 2024
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