Pictured from left to right are Lincoln Moore, Jacob Montesi, Chase MacQueen-Spence, Owen Voortman and Owen Kalp. The five overage players were honoured before the Lincolns’ game on March 6 and were presented framed jerseys as part of the pre-game ceremony. The Lincolns ended the season in third and will play the Strathroy Rockets in round one of the playoffs.(Photo by Turner Roth)
Lincolns will meet Strathroy Rockets in first round of playoffs
By Spencer Seymour
Sometimes, you lose the games you play well, and other times, you win games in which you have large chunks of subpar play.
That was the case for the St. Marys Lincolns in their final week of the regular season, winning 8-3 in St. Thomas despite having a terrible second period, and playing one of their best games of the last month against the Elmira Sugar Kings, but ultimately falling 3-2 in overtime.
The overtime win for Elmira, along with their victory over the Sarnia Legionnaires in their final game of the regular season, locked the Sugar Kings into second in the Western Conference. The Lincolns will end the regular season as the third seed in the West, which sets them up to play the Strathroy Rockets in the first round of the post-season.
Arguably, the biggest bright side for the Lincolns in their final two games of the regular season was the return of four of their five injured players, three of whom returned to the lineup on March 4. Declan Ready, Cam Kean and James MacGregor all returned to the ice, with MacGregor coming off the longest layoff, having not played since Feb. 1.
Lincs’ captain Chase MacQueen-Spence then returned as well on March 6 against Elmira, leaving Oliver Lacko as the only Lincoln still on the mend.
Head coach Jeff Bradley noted the additions were a welcome boost to the group.
“I think there’s a little bit of rust there, but it was nice to see James (MacGregor), Cam (Kean) and Declan (Ready) get back in against St. Thomas, and then Chase (MacQueen-Spence) against Elmira. Those are all big pieces for us, and we’re always happy to get guys back. We just want to make sure we’re healthy getting in the playoffs. That’s step one, so we’re pretty happy on that front.”
Declan Ready celebrates scoring the game-tying goal in the third period of the St. Marys Lincolns game on March 6 against the Elmira Sugar Kings. The Lincolns lost the game 3-2 in overtime. Ready was one of three players, along with James MacGregor and Cam Kean, to return from injury on March 4 in St. Thomas, when the Lincolns won 8-3. (Photo by Turner Roth)
Owen Voortman and Devun Colebrook scored two goals in 47 seconds in the late stages of the opening period on March 4 to give the Lincolns a 2-1 lead heading into the second, with the Lincolns thoroughly controlling play in the first, outshooting St. Thomas 14-6.
However, the script flipped in the second with the Lincolns falling asleep in the middle stanza. The Lincolns were outshot 22-9, however both teams managed to find the back of the net twice, sending the game into the third with St. Marys up 3-2. Voortman and Callum McAuley scored for the Lincolns in the second. The Lincolns escaped the second with the lead largely thanks to goaltender Vaughn Barr, who made 20 saves, including many quality scoring chances he turned aside. Barr ended the game with 35 stops.
The Lincolns got back on track in the third, with Voortman completing the hat trick, McAuley adding his second of the night, Maddyx Chaput firing home his first career Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL) goal and Tyson Cartier burying his second of the season with just two seconds left in the game to secure an 8-3 win.
Bradley told the Independent the second-period showing was very inadequate, and something they have to avoid in the post-season.
“I thought we played two good periods,” Bradley said. “I think there was just a lack of concentration, a lack of focus and just not at all the way we want to execute our plan. It was a pitiful performance in the second period. It’s something that we’re obviously trying to avoid going into the playoffs.
“It’s something that we address with the team as much as we can. It’s a long season and you try to understand that 50 games is a lot, and we have an older team with a lot of guys who have played some big games, so sometimes period two against St. Thomas in March isn’t the most important thing in their lives, but you’ve just got to try to get the best out of it.”
Sugar Kings edge out Lincs in clash of west titans
Though the Lincolns played a largely solid game against the Sugar Kings, Elmira emerged with a 3-2 overtime victory to help them clinch second in the conference.
After Nate Gravelle gave the Sugar Kings a 1-0 lead midway through the first, Ryan Hodkinson tied the game for the Lincolns with a powerplay tally.
Elmira jumped up to a two-goal lead with a pair of goals three minutes apart in the second frame by Brady Schwindt and Brendan Gerber. Approximately three-and-a-half minutes later, Ready cut the lead back to one with his 14th of the season.
Lincoln Moore found the equalizer in the third, with the game staying deadlocked until Gerber potted the game-winner on a breakaway in overtime.
Despite only leaving with one point, Bradley credited his squad with a strong performance for the majority of the game.
“I thought we played really well. I really liked our game from start to finish. There was maybe a gap for a bit of time in the first period where they got on us a little bit, but Elmira is also a very strong team. Even in the second, even though they were up 3-1, I didn’t think we played poorly. I thought there were a couple of bad decisions made on the goals against but give our guys credit; they battled back and got the game to overtime.
“Three-on-three isn’t something we’ll be doing again, so we’re not going to look too deeply into that,” Bradley continued. “It’s unfortunate to lose and unfortunate to get third place, but it doesn’t really matter what we think about it now. We know who we’re playing and we’re looking forward to it.”
Bradley added the team playing much better in the bigger game on the schedule has been a throughline across the Lincolns’ season.
“It’s not just that game (against Elmira); we’ve seen it all year, and that hasn’t really been a question to us. If you look at our record against Elmira, we got six points in four games. We got six points in four games against Chatham and six points in four games against Stratford. So, we know when games are big, our guys are going to show up. We saw some good things, and we just want to make sure we’re building on it.”
The first round of the playoffs in the Western Conference will see the top-seeded Chatham Maroons battle the eighth-place St. Thomas Stars. Elmira will have home-ice advantage over the LaSalle Vipers, who sit seventh in the west. In the three-versus-six matchup, the Lincolns will take on the Rockets. The fourth-placed Stratford Warriors will clash with the fifth-ranked London Nationals.
On the Eastern Conference side, the regular-season champion Cambridge Redhawks will take on the Caledonia Corvairs. The second-versus-seventh series will feature the St. Catharines Falcons having home-ice advantage on the Ayr Centennials. The third-placed Fort Erie Meteors will face the sixth-ranked Brantford Titans. In the battle between fourth and fifth, the Pelham Panthers will face the Port Colborne Sailors.
