The Miniota-Elkhorn C-Hawks have flown to the Tiger Hills Hockey League West Division finals, while the Virden Oil Kings hope to keep their season alive.
On Tuesday, the top-seeded C-Hawks beat the No. 4 Rivers Jets, 1-0, to sweep its THHL West Division semifinals series, 3-0. Taylor Sanheim scored the game’s lone goal on a second period powerplay. Cory Gardham made 22 saves to shut out the Jets.
“Our compete level is a big key to our success,” C-Hawks forward Parker Johnson said. “We help each other out and have fun doing it. We’re looking forward to continuing our playoff push and hopefully winning it all.”
Meanwhile, the No. 3-seecded Oil Kings had fallen into a 2-0 hole in their semifinals clash against the No. 2 Killarney Shamrocks at press time. Game three was slated for Wednesday, after the Empire-Advance deadline, in Killarney. The Oil Kings hoped to force a game four, which would be played Thursday in Virden. If needed, the fifth contest would be Sunday in Killarney.
“Our focus moving forward in the series will be to keep our intensity up and make smart decisions with the puck,” Coach Ryan Mathieson said. “Killarney is a deep team, and we can’t give them high quality chances.”
Oil Kings
The Shamrocks won the first two games of the semifinal series by scores of 5-2 and 2-1.
“I feel we played well in both games, we’re able to control the play for stretches but would give up too many chances off the rush,” Mathieson said. “We have created plenty of chances but both goaltenders have been playing well.”
The second contest was knotted at 1-1 at the intermissions on Feb. 26 in Virden. Derek LeBlanc had Virden’s goal. Oil Kings goalie Tristan Rinn made 35 saves.
On Feb. 24 in Killarney, the game was tied at 1-1 after one. The Shamrocks outscored the Oil Kings 3-1 in the second on the way to the 5-2 win. Ty Lewis scored both of Virden’s goals. Rinn stopped 25 shots.
C-Hawks
Miniota-Elkhorn won game one, 6-2, and game two, 7-1, against Rivers.
On Feb. 21, the C-Hawks led 1-0 after the first period and were up 4-0 after two. Gardham made 24 saves in the 6-2 win. Johnson and Jason Bowles each scored twice.
The Jets and C-Hawks were tied at 1-1 at the end of the first period on Feb. 25. Miniota-Elkhorn then scored six straight goals and won 7-1. Seven different C-Hawks scored. Bowles finished with three points.
