The County Cup

Community hockey tournament raises funds for PELC

Eight local hockey teams took part in the annual County Cup tournament over the weekend, playing a series of round-robin games on Friday evening and Saturday, with the finals played on Sunday. The tournament is a fundraiser for the Prince Edward Learning Centre, and with new sponsorships, entry fees and a silent auction of hockey equipment, about $5,000 was raised. Organizers of the tournament said there were a lot more spectators for these games than in previous years.

Sunday’s men’s final matched up Acoustic Grill and Parsons Brewing, with both teams having a record of two wins and a tie through the round-robin, where the tie came when playing each other. The game opened on a high tempo with Acoustic getting an early breakaway only to have the shot saved. The action shifted to the other end with a good chance for Parsons to get on the scoreboard, but the game remained deadlocked. An icing call against Parsons put the faceoff deep in their end, and Acoustic got the first goal on a backhand. They got a second one just about a minute later and continued to press the attack. They were rewarded at the eleven-minute mark with another goal to make it 3-0 after 11 minutes. Parsons came back with a score on the wraparound at 13 minutes, and then added another just a minute later. Acoustic had a breakaway near the end of the first period, but the Parsons goalie made the save. Parsons had a brief two-man advantage in the second period, but couldn’t capitalize. Acoustic made it 4-2 with eight minutes left and added an empty-net goal to seal the win.

The women’s final featured the County Crushers and Picton Blue, who played each other to a tie during the round-robin stage. The Crushers had the edge in early play but could not get a clear shot on net. They got on the scoreboard at 14 minutes with an open-side tip-in after a pass through the crease. It was a close-fought game with both teams doing the hard work along the boards and in the corners. The Blues finally scored 10 minutes into the second period to tie the game, but could not capitalize on a power play to get a go-ahead goal. The Crushers made it 2-1 and kept up sustained pressure before the Blues iced the puck to get some fresh legs on the ice. The Blues pulled their goalie with 1:30 left, but almost immediately took a penalty to give the Crushers a power play. The County Crushers ran down the clock to seal the win and take home the Cup for the second year in a row.