Spirit soar past Moose Jaw to reach Memorial Cup final
The Saginaw Spirit used a five-goal second period to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-1 and advance to the final of the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow.
Ethan Hay (TB) scored twice while Braden Haché, Owen Beck (MTL), Lincoln Moore, Sebastien Gervais and Rodwin Dionicio (ANA) also found the back of the net. Andrew Oke made 23 saves to record his third win of the tournament.
Jagger Firkus (SEA) had Moose Jaw’s lone goal as Jackson Unger stopped 30 shots.
“That’s a lot of pressure with what’s at stake and for our guys to play as well as they did, it makes you proud.”
Tied at 1-1 after 20 minutes, the Spirit offence exploded for a five-goal second.
Captain Haché got his first of the Memorial Cup 1:53 into the period as his shot hit Ethan Semeniuk’s stick to beat Unger glove side before Beck showed off his NHL-level shot from the right faceoff dot at 3:43.
Moore blasted home a one-timer from just above the goal line at 9:05 to make it 4-1 while Hay’s second of the evening at 11:22 made it a four-goal lead. Gervais completed the second period scoring when he banked the puck off of Unger’s right pad at 14:24 for his first of the tournament.
“We rip one and it hits their stick and we got some puck luck,” Lazary said. “you need luck to win and we got it and then after that we got our next one, it was a sick play by Bloomer to delay [the pass to Beck] … and then from there I thought we were going to be okay and we’d get rolling and we did.”
Hay had given Saginaw a 1-0 lead just 3:03 into the game after he potted a wrister from the low slot after Gervais’ feed from behind the net. The Warriors’ Lucas Brenton had a goal waved off for goalie interference shortly after but Firkus officially equalized at 7:08 with a backhander on an odd-man rush.
Dionicio had the only goal of the third period 70 seconds into the frame.
“It’s a big, big, big moment for our organization,” Lazary said. “Were hosting the Memorial Cup, we’re playing the semi-final game with a chance to go to the final on Sunday in our building against a team we obviously love to play [in London].
“Watching what the Memorial Cup has done for our community this week and our franchise and our fans and just everybody involved. It’s been overwhelming in a good way. There’s a sense of pride for our guys to be able to go out in a big moment like that … we’re playing for a lot of people and we’re very proud we delivered tonight.”
Saginaw will face London in the final of the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow on Sunday at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT.
