Admirals Advance To Semifinals After Series Comeback Versus Wheatley

The Amherstburg Admirals are heading to the Stobbs Semifinals for the first time since 2020, after defeating the Wheatley Sharks in Game 6 and 7 to take the best-of-seven series.

On Saturday night in Amherstburg, Ryan Clark’s goal at 6:30 of overtime gave the Admirals a 4-3 victory in what was a tense game in front of 400 fans at the Libro Centre. Trailing 2-1 going into the third, goals from Rory Sandison and Wyatt Goudie put the home side ahead, before Wheatley forward Josh Bleau tied it with just under six minutes left in regulation. In the overtime period, Amherstburg thought they had won it on a nice play by Finn Russett, but his would-be goal was called off due to Sharks goaltender Ethan Handley knocking the net off. The play resulted in a Sharks penalty, which set the stage for Clark’s heroics.

Both teams faced the quick turnaround for Game 7 the following night in Wheatley, and right from the opening faceoff the Admirals looked to be the more assertive team in the pressure-packed game. Tyler Vriesema got the Admirals on the board first with his first career goal, only to have Josh Chauvin quickly reply to even things up. Chauvin would again have the answer after Rory Sandison put the visitors back in front, with his second of the evening coming in the final minute of the opening frame to leave the score at 2-2 after 20 minutes.

The second period was where the Admirals seized control. Unanswered goals by Brady Drouillard, Finn Russett and Jake Goudreault made it a 5-2 lead, with Chauvin completing his hat-trick by beating the buzzer to cut the lead to two. In the third, the Admirals did a good job limiting the Sharks pressure and holding them off for Wyatt Goudie to hit the empty-net for a three-goal lead with three minutes to go. The Sharks turned up the pressure after that and got one past Dom De Zorzi, but that was as close as they would get and Drew Booker put the final nail in the coffin in the dying seconds to round out the scoring in a 7-4 win.

In the seven games, the Admirals were led offensively by Drew Booker and Rory Sandison who each potted four goals and totalled nine points, with linemate Brett Jones notching three tallies and eight points of his own. Overage blueliner Ryan Clark equalled Booker and Sandison with nine points in the series, with none being bigger than his OT winner in Game 6. Dom De Zorzi was the winning goaltender in three of the four victories, with Russell Vaughan picking up the Game 3 win.

The series victory puts the Admirals into the Stobbs Semifinals for the first time in six years, where they will face the defending Schmaltz Cup champion and four-time defending Stobbs champion Lakeshore Canadiens. The series schedule versus Lakeshore is TBD, so please stay tuned to our pages for schedulle updates.