Warriors advance to semi-finals of 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow
Aiden Ziprick scored shorthanded with 94 seconds left in regulation as the Moose Jaw Warriors advanced to the semi-finals of the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow after a 5-3 win over the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
Vojtech Port (ANA), Jagger Firkus (SEA), Denton Mateychuk (CBJ) and Brayden Yager (PIT) also scored for Moose Jaw as Jackson Unger made 49 saves.
“Tonight we showed we don’t want to go home yet,” Ziplick said after the Warriors secured its first Memorial Cup win in franchise history.
Drummondville’s Justin Côté, Peter Repcik and Alexis Gendron (PHI) found the back of the net while Riley Mercer turned away 23 shots.
After seeing a 3-0 lead disappear, and being outshot 26-6 in the third, the Warriors held their nerve as Ziprick scored shorthanded at 18:26 from the slot after taking a feed from Mateychuk who had dug the puck out of a corner battle.
“It’s a big tournament right now and obviously a close game and we needed a goal so to get that one for the guys is just huge for me and I’ll definitely remember that for the rest of my life,” Ziprick said. Of all players to score for Moose Jaw the 18-year-old may have been least likely; he was pointless in 20 postseason games while in 84 career regular season contests, he had only scored one goal.
Yager secured the victory with an empty-net goal with 9.6 seconds to play.
“I’m real proud of the group,” Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said. “Again, we found a way to do it. We didn’t make it easy but this group’s just not ready to be done yet.”
Port, who didn’t score during the WHL Playoffs, had the only goal of the first period as he buried Atley Calvert’s pass backdoor at 13:04 to open the scoring.
Through Firkus’ first goal of the tournament – a power play one-timer – at 5:10 followed by Mateychuk’s third – to tie the tournament lead – the Warriors held a 3-0 lead 12:43 into the middle stanza.
However, the Volts scored a pair of goals within 57 seconds to get within one after 40 minutes as Côté’s one-timer at 14:46 was quickly followed by Repcik’s point shot to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Volts tied the game 3:13 into the third through Gendron who off of a faceoff picked his spot over Unger’s glove for his first of the tournament.
“Throughout the game you get in a groove when you see that many shots,” Unger said. “Past the 25-shot mark, you know your game and feel good in the crease and that carried on into the third.”
Moose Jaw will now face either London or Saginaw in Friday’s semi-final while Drummondville’s season ends, as does the QMJHL’s search for a fifth straight Memorial Cup title.
