The Selkirk Fishermen will look to close out their semifinal series this week.
Selkirk and the Beausejour Comets squared off in games two through four of their best-of-seven Capital Region Junior Hockey League semifinal series last week after Selkirk took Game 1 back on March 8.
Thursday’s Game 2 featured a Fishermen five-goal third period to propel them to a 7-2 victory at the Selkirk Recreation Complex, putting them up 2-0 in the series.
Connor Bruyere scored a pair of Fishermen goals in the first period to match the pair from Beausejour’s Tyler Nault, as the teams sat tied 2-2 after one.
Ryan Cromie and Theo Courchene then joined them on the scoresheet with two goals each in the third period, while Izzy Aime rounded out the scoring in the five-goal frame for Selkirk.
Meanwhile in net, Selkirk’s Marcus Sharpe made 43 saves while Beausejour’s Alex Cavanagh totaled 40.
Selkirk then took a 3-0 stranglehold on the series the following evening with a 3-1 win at the Beausejour Sportsplex in Friday’s Game 3.
Beausejour’s Jaedys Dancyt and Selkirk’s Deacon Kemp traded first-period goals. The game sat tied 1-1 until the final minute of the third period when Selkirk’s Drake Vermeulen beat netminder Sawyer Abraham with 52 seconds remaining to give the Fishermen the lead.
Aime added an empty-netter in the final seconds to complete the Selkirk victory.
Netminder Johnny Enns-Demchuk finished with 33 saves in the Fishermen crease while Abraham made 24 at the other end.
The win gave Selkirk its first chance to close out the series on home ice in Sunday’s Game 4.
Beausejour, however, stayed alive with a 5-4 win at Selkirk Recreation Complex, drawing first blood in the series.
Selkirk’s Ryland Schroeder and Beausejour’s Owen Lourenco both scored in the opening frame.
The Fishermen then trailed 3-1 after a pair of second-period goals by the Comets before Kemp cut it to 3-2 with a tally late in the middle frame.
Bruyere tied the game early in the third before Beausejour took advantage of a couple of power plays, scoring twice to restore a two-goal lead at 5-3.
Selkirk made a late push but only cut the lead to one after Ashton Schroeder scored with one second left on the clock.
Abraham was credited with 36 saves and the win while Sharpe finished with 32 saves in the Fishermen crease.
With Beausejour taking Game 4, the series shifts back to the Beausejour Sportsplex for Game 5, with Selkirk still leading 3-1.
The Fishermen will look to close out the series with a win in Game 5 on Monday night to punch their ticket to the CRJHL championship for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
The winner of the series will move on to play the victor of the other semifinal between the St. Malo Warriors and La Broquerie Habs, which St. Malo currently leads 2-1.
Upcoming games:
Game 5 — Monday, March 16, 8 p.m., at Beausejour Sportsplex
Game 6 — Thursday, March 19, 7:30 p.m., at Selkirk Recreation Complex (if necessary)
Game 7 — Saturday, March 21, 7 p.m., at Beausejour Sportsplex (if necessary)
