The Stouffville Spirit rallied late to earn a dramatic 4–3 victory over the St. Michaels Buzzers on Sunday afternoon at St. Michaels College Arena.
St. Michael’s struck almost immediately to open the scoring, as Mandarino buried his second of the postseason just 18 seconds into the first period, finishing a play set up by O’Toole and Godard to give the Buzzers a 1–0 lead after twenty minutes.
The Buzzers extended the lead early in the second when Mandarino scored again at 5:20, converting a feed from O’Toole and Mahoney to make it 2–0. The Spirit responded midway through the period when Armstrong got Stouffville on the board at 9:55, assisted by Street. Stouffville carried that momentum late into the frame, tying the game when Breckles scored at 19:33 off passes from Demiglio and Radley.
In the third period, St. Michael’s briefly regained the lead as O’Toole found the net at 7:21, with helpers from Fegaras and Mahoney. The Spirit pushed back once again, evening the score at 12:05 when Chavez finished a setup from Street.
With time winding down, Stouffville capitalized on the power play as Demiglio scored the game-winner at 19:11, assisted by Armstrong, completing the comeback.
Sabourin made 24 saves on 27 shots for the Spirit in the win, while Frattaroli turned aside 33 of 37 shots for the Buzzers.
Stouffville wins the series 4-2 and now advances to the second round of the postseason.
