CV Elite skate into final

July 06, 2008 04:00 am

— SIMSBURY, CT. -- The Champlain Valley Elite A Developmental Team has already advanced to today's championship game in the Hartford Junior A Hockey Tournament.
But, not without a scare Saturday night.
Sean Rudy's goal with two minutes left in regulation gave the Elite a 5-all sudden-death tie with Powershack.
Earlier in the day, the Elite skated to a 5-0 win over the New England Prep Selects to go 2-0 in the tournament at the time.
Against Powershack, Rudy, Landon Lavictoire, Robert Guay, Jonathan Guay and Justin Spring scored for Champlain Valley.
Landon Lavictoire added two assists, while Jonathan Guay, Robert Guay, Nick Certo, Wallace Thompson and Brent Bourgeois added one apiece.
"We were up, 3-1, at one time before they came back to take a 4-3 lead," said Elite general manager/head coach Justin Frechette. "It was a classic case of letting a team hang around. We had a few defensive breakdowns.
"We outshot them by a 3-1 margin and their goaltender stood on his head. We had four or five great scoring chances in the sudden death. I wasn't happy that we let them back in the game when we should have put them away. But, we did dig in and got the tie to move on to the championship game."
Earlier in the day, Certo and Bourgeois each scored twice while Eddie Montgomery added a goal as Champlain Valley played a solid game against the New England Prep Selects.
Darcy Findlay assisted on two goals, while Spring, Eddie Slade and Josh Johnson each picked up one assist. Patrick Bilan made 22 saves in recording the shutout.
The Elite committed just three penalties and converted on 75 percent of their powerplays.
"We played well in the game and on the powerplay," Frechette said. "We're capitalizing on all the mistakes by our opponents and getting some great weakside rebounds."
The Elite were scheduled to play the host Northern Connecticut Wings Premiere in the morning.
Both those teams, however, have already advanced to the championship game. So, instead of playing in the morning, the two will go at it at 3 p.m. for the tourney title.