SMITH GETS OVERTIME WINNER, SENDS BLACK TO U17 CAMP FINAL

JASON LA ROSE

CALGARY, Alta. – Ty Smith (Lloydminster, Alta./Lloydminster, AMHL) snuck a backhand under Kevin Mandolese (Blainville, Que./Collège Esther-Blondin, LHMAAAQ) 1:14 into overtime, giving Black a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Green on Sunday night at Canada’s national under-17 development camp.

The win means Black will play for the camp championship on Monday afternoon (12:15 p.m. MT) against the winner on Sunday night’s late game between Red and Blue.

With Black pressing early in the three-on-three extra period, Smith gathered in the rebound of an Adam McMaster (Beamsville, Ont./Niagara North, OMHA) one-timer, spun in the slot and beat a sprawling Mandolese.

“Dudas made a good pass over to McMaster and he had a good shot,” Smith said. “It was a good save by the goalie, and I just fortunate to get the rebound following up the play, and just be able to slide it in.”

Jackson Doherty (Ancaster, Ont./Hamilton, OMHA), added to the roster Sunday morning after injuries left Black a few players short, and Eli Zummack (Kelowna, B.C./Okanagan, BCMML) had the other goals for Black, which trailed 2-0 less than 15 minutes in.

It took Green just 10 seconds to get the scoring started; Riley Damiani (Mississauga, Ont./Mississauga Rebels, GTHL) pounced on a loose puck and beat Black netminder Jacob Ingham (Barrie, Ont./Barrie, OMHA).

“Great play by the defenceman and my winger, and the puck just ended up on my stick with an open net,” Damiani said of his early goal. “If I miss those, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Tyler Tucker (Longlac, Ont./Toronto Titans, GTHL) doubled the lead at 14:12, hammering a slap shot behind Ingham on a Black power play, but Doherty got one back for Green just 1:18 after that to make it a 2-1 game after one period.

Green held a 10-8 advantage in shots on goal in the second, but a Black buzzer-beater tied the game; Zummack beat Mandolese from in close with less than a second to go in the middle frame, sending the game to the intermission tied 2-2.

Black netminder Marshall Frappier (Nepean, Ont./Nepean, HEO) was the story of the third period, turning away all 12 shots he faced to get the game to the extra period, setting up the winner by Smith.

Overall, Green held a 37-26 advantage in shots on goal. It will take on White in the fifth-place game Monday morning (9:30 a.m. MT) to close out camp.

“We’re going to bring the same mentality [on Monday],” Damiani said. “I thought we outplayed them overall; everyone was working, and with those games you’re going to win more times than you’re going to lose, so we’ll take that effort.”