The season is over for the St. Albert Sabres.
The SSAC Southgate Lions swept the best-of-five playoff series by scores of 3-1 and 4-1.
In Saturday’s must-win game at Akinsdale Arena, the Sabres went all out in the third period but in the end it wasn’t enough against arguably the best team in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
“They’re a good team and we didn’t come out to play,” said goaltender Patrick Gora. “The first period we didn’t come out hard enough. We played good after the second but if we played 60 minutes we probably would’ve won that game.”
The slow opening frame saw the Lions walk away with the 1-0 lead after a 17-3 shelling in shots. They would go on to net two more in the second, while the Sabres countered with a goal by Andrew Kary, his second of the series.
One of the major reasons for the deficit could be related to the simple battles in the corners, according to Sabres’ head coach Umberto Fiorillo.
“We didn’t get into the tough areas enough and we didn’t take pucks into the tough areas,” Fiorillo said. “They are a really tight defensive team and guys shot a lot of shots from the perimeter and we didn’t generate enough scoring chances.”
Early in the second, a goal by the Sabres was waved off as the referee ruled it never crossed the goal line.
“It did [and] everyone on the bench said it did,” said forward Brett Smythe. “Then they went and scored right after that.”
Fiorillo believes every team has to fight through those calls in the playoffs to be successful.
“There is always those moments in a series that turn games around,” said Fiorillo. “Was it in or was it not? We can debate that all day but in the end it was a bad break and right after that they scored. Yup, it was a momentum swing.”
Looking back on the series, Gora suggested the Sabres didn’t play their best brand of hockey.
“We didn’t have everyone going every game. We didn’t fight every shift … and you can’t have that in the playoffs,” said Gora, who faced 28 shots in game two after stopping 33 shots in the series opener.
In the nitro north division standings, the Lions (26-4-3) and Sabres (23-7-3) finished first and second, respectively.
“It was a tremendous season. All the players on the team improved, and our record was the best ever for a bantam AAA St. Albert team. We had a group of people, not just players, that I’m proud of,” said Fiorillo.
