Rangers Sweep into Division Final

GLANBROOK (Feb. 23) — The Glanbrook Rangers swept into the Bloomfield Division final with a pair of weekend wins over the Hagersville Hawks. The Rangers captured Game 3 with a sensational 5-1 victory in front of a frenzied partisan crowd in Hagersville on Saturday, then put the finishing touches to the perfecto by downing the desperate Hawks 3-1 back at Glanbrook Arena on Sunday.

It was a virtuoso performance by the Rangers, who surprised many by not only overcoming the Hawks in four straight games, but holding the second-highest scoring team in the division to a paltry four goals. But the explanation was simple, said veteran Ranger defenceman Jamie Caruso.

“We wanted it more than they did,” said Caruso, who did stalwart service along with the other Rangers rearguards, particularly in the decisive Game 4 when the Hawks threw everything they could at the Rangers but were unable to crack Glanbrook’s defensive shell. “You never underestimate your opponent, and we knew it would be a hard series, but we have a good group of guys here and we are really coming together.”

In Game 3, the Rangers catapulted out of the gate and opened up a 4-0 lead by the midway point of the first period on a pair of goals by Noah Bollert, and singles from Cooper Hood and Dallas Nadasdi. After that, apart from a goal by Hagersville’s Brendan Judson at 12:00 of the second period, the Rangers kept the Hawks at bay.

Sandy Ciccarelli added the final flourish with a goal at 18:42 of a third period that saw the first real animosity in the series as both teams took a number of stick infractions and misconducts, culminating in Hagersville’s Matt Weston crashing into Glanbrook goaltender Matt Lukic late in the third period. The 144 penalty minutes assessed to both teams in that contest (76 to Hagersville, 68 to Glanbrook) was more than quadruple the total in the previous two matches and added some electricity to the atmosphere for Game 4 in Glanbrook.

Both teams came out pounding, but it was the Rangers who had the better scoring opportunities, although Hagersville had the higher shot totals. Dan Rocco drew first blood with a hard-earned goal at 15:27 of the first period, and linemate Michael Dittrich extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:18 of the second.

The Rangers had abundant glorious scoring opportunities throughout of the rest of the period, but were unable to deal the knockout blow.

“It was getting a bit frustrating,” said Rangers’ leading scorer Bollert, who had Hagersville goalie Jamie Ferguson dead to rights on one thrust, but inexplicably misfired past a wide open net. “But we didn’t lose our composure.”

Hagersville got a glimmer of hope at 5:14 of the third period when a shot by Peter Cappucci was inadvertently deflected past Ranger goaltender Mitch Robinson, who was called into service for the first time in the series and who was rock-solid. But Bollert delivered the coup de grace for Glanbook at 10:54 and thereafter, the Rangers’ defenders systematically checked any offensive threats the Hawks could muster.

Barring a miraculous reversal, the Rangers will next face their perennial rivals, the Grimsby Peach Kings, who hold a 3-0 series lead over the Hespeler Shamrocks, but for the time being they can rest up a bit and contemplate their success as they prepare for the next stage.

“We’ll give the guys some time off,” said Rangers coach Mike Christian. “This (series win over Hagersville) was a total team effort. Everybody did their jobs. They’ve all bought in to what we’re asking of them and we’ll be ready for the next challenge.”

NOTES: Bollert and Noah Matteson are 1-2 in all three offensive categories in the post-season. Bollert leads the PJHL in goals (11) and points (20), while Matteson is tops in assists (11) and second in goals (7) and points (18). … Robinson made 34 saves to earn his third playoff victory in what was his first start since Feb. 11 against Niagara … Caruso, who has a goal and nine assists, is tied with three others for top spot in the post-season defenceman scoring table … The Rangers held Hagersville to only two goals while playing five-on-five; the Hawks were 2-for-20 on the power play, while Glanbrook was 1-for-12.

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