Six of the original 61 teams were left standing on Sunday afternoon as the 23rd Annual Steel City International Hockey Tournament came to a close in Sault Ste. Marie with championship game action.
The Soo Bantam Greyhounds were the lone local team to secure a championship at the tournament in the AAA bantam minor division while the Soo North Stars suffered a heartbreaking loss in the AAA midget major division championship.
The Greyhounds cruised to a 3-0 win over the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers while North Stars fell 3-2 to the Marquette Electricians on a late third period goal.
Complete game championship game stories for both the North Stars and Greyhounds can be found on the SooToday sports page.
The Soo Thunder had a good run through the tournament but fell short of championship berth after falling 3-1 to Detroit's Little Caesars in the AAA bantam major division semi-final on Sunday morning.
The Thunder, which compiled a 2-1-2 record during the weekend, received their lone goal in the semi-final from Jeff McAllister. Little Caesars rallied for the win with three goals in the third period.
The Sault's Northside Toyota also saw their run come to an end in the semi-finals with a 5-0 loss to the Sudbury Lakers in the AA midget division. Toyota finished the tournament with a 4-1 record.
*** The following is summary of the remaining championship games:
MIDGET AAA MINOR:
The Chicago Young Americans scored early and late in the first period to capture the tournament championship with an entertaining 2-1 victory over intercity rival Chicago Chill. Tommy Wingels and Kyle Greco scored for the winners while Mike Vitale added two assists. Michael Embach scored the lone goal in a losing cause.
BANTAM AAA MAJOR:
Little Caesars cruised to a 5-2 win over Southern Ontario's Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs. T.J. Battini led the winners with two goals and an assist while singles went to Matt Rogers, Magnas Dahlberg and Dean Chelios. Travis Schruder and Dane Philps replied for the Chiefs.
MIDGET AA:
The Sudbury Maslack Lakers followed their semi-final shutout of Toyota with a 5-0 blanking of Macamic, Quebec's Conquerants de La Sarre. Chris St. Jean led the way with two power play goals while Pat Thibert, Gerry Morin and Shawn Rainville scored once each. David Corelli recorded the shutout in net.
BANTAM AA:
The Thunder Bay Beavers needed four overtime periods before capturing a 5-4 win over Brampton's Warren Park Eagles. Thunder Bay rallied with two third period goals to overcome a 4-2 deficit. Mike Fenton scored the overtime winner while Chris Kovac, Mike Labelle with two and Randal Hanlon completed the Beavers scoring. Lucas Stevens-Hall and Chris Hoecke scored twice each for the Eagles.
*** The following are scores from Sunday's semi-finals:
MIDGET MAJOR AAA:
Marquette Electricians 4 London Jr. Knights 1
Soo North Stars 1 Chicago Flames 0
MIDGET MINOR AAA:
Chicago Young Americans 6 London Knights 2
Chicago Chill 2 Oshawa Don Cherry's 1
BANTAM MAJOR AAA:
Little Caesars 3 Soo Thunder 1
Elgin-Middlesex 7 Belle Tire 4
BANTAM MINOR AAA:
Soo Greyhounds 8 Calumet Rotary 3
Green Bay Jr. Gamblers 8 Marquette American Legion 2
MIDGET AA:
Sudbury Lakers 5 Northside Toyota 0
La Sarre 3 Shaw Timberwolves 2
BANTAM AA:
Warren Park 2 Arapahoe Ice Warriors 1
Thunder Bay Beavers 4 South End Rangers 1