Wolves capture 2015 Georgian Fall Intramural Hockey League title with win over Warriors

The 2015 Georgian Fall Intramural Hockey season came to a close on Wed December 9th with championship games in two divisions. In the "A" Championship, the Wolves proved a little too fierce for the Warriors, while the Knights could not weather the storm in the "B" Championship against the Cyclones.

The 10 team league saw all teams advance to the playoffs, with a wild card round eliminating two teams and leaving eight quarter-finalists. Winners of the quarter-finals advanced to the "A" or championship semi-finals, with the losing teams advancing to compete in the "B" or consolation championship semi-finals.

The "B" Championship featured the #1 seeded Cyclones versus the #9 seeded Knights. The Knights upset the #7 Vipers in the wild card game, only to fall to the #2 Mavericks in the quarter-finals. The Knights then rebounded to beat the Blazers and advance to the "B" Final. The Cyclones were upset by the Warriors in the quarter-finals for their only loss of the season. A win against the Crusaders gave them a chance to salvage the season in the "B" Final – and they did just that. With teams tied 1-1 midway through the first, the Cyclones showed why they were the top team in the regular season, scoring three quick goals to lead 4-1 after one period. The Cyclones kept swirling around the Knights net for the remainder of the game, scoring a few more in the second and third to claim the "B" title.

The "A" Championship featured the #8 seeded Warriors versus the #3 seeded Wolves. The Warriors surprising run to the finals started with a wild-card win over the Cougars, followed by a 6-5 overtime victory against the top ranked and previously undefeated Cyclones in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals proved to be another shootout, with the Warriors prevailing 10-6 over the #5 ranked Comets to advance to the title game. The Wolves had a tough road to the finals as well, needed a shootout to defeat the #6 Blazers 2-1 in the quarter-finals before upsetting the #2 rated Mavericks 5-3 in the semi-finals.

At first glance, the championship game seemed liked a mismatch. The Wolves had taken the regular season meeting against the Warriors with ease, romping to an 11-2 win. The rematch was anything but a repeat of that game.

In a see-saw affair that saw Warriors goaltender Zak Hajjaoui and his Wolves counterpart Grant Belanger tested on numerous occasions, with both making key saves, the Warriors struck first to lead 1-0 late in the first before the Wolves tied it with 14 seconds remaining in the period. Teams exchanged goals in the second to make the score 2-2 going into the third. Both teams traded chances in the third, with the Warriors hitting the crossbar a few times and missing some open nets to keep the game tied. Then, with just under 4 minutes remaining in the game, a screen shot off a face-off found the back of the net to give the Wolves a 3-2 lead. Despite intense pressure by the Warriors with the net empty, the Wolves staved off the last minute assault to emerge with the 3-2 win and the "A" title.

Teams will now break for the holidays and the Winter Intramural League will begin play on Monday January 11th.