Greater Sudbury Cubs' Centennial Cup run comes to an end
With a three-goal lead heading into the third period on Friday night, the Melfort Mustangs held the fort handily against the Greater Sudbury Cubs to take a 7-1 victory and end the locals' historic run at the Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship.
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Noah Kohan had the lone goal and Noah Beaulne made 34 saves for the Cubs, who had become the first NOJHL representatives since the 2012 Soo Thunderbirds to reach the quarter-final round and the first from the Sudbury area since the 2000 Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats.
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'Two last-minute goals at the end of the first and the second was the difference in the game for us,' Greater Sudbury head coach Darryl Moxam said later. 'It was just too big a mountain to climb. They are one heck of a hockey club, they've been there before and today we quite honestly just ran out of gas.'
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The Cubs finished their 2024-25 season with an overall record of 58-12-1-1, including regular-season, playoff and Centennial Cup action, while winning a second straight league championship and back-to-back berths at nationals.
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With No. 1 netminder Karsen Chartier unable to play against the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions, Beaulne was tabbed as starter shortly before game time, with Matthew Vahramian serving as backup. Beaulne earned his coach's admiration for his performance, especially during a first period in which the Cubs were outshot 24-7.
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'Noah made some saves in the first period I don't know that I've seen in the last 10 years,' Moxam said. 'I'll be honest, he found out he was going in and we had had to get Matty dressed and he found out with about 12 minutes to go that he was starting the game. The job he did, I can't stress enough how proud I am of everyone in that room, but in particular today, what Beau did going in there was pretty special.'
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Melfort's Kaleb Binner finally opened the scoring off a giveaway at 6:41, before Cole Unger collected a loose puck late in the stanza and snapped a shot past Beaulne for a 2-0 lead.
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Kohan put Greater Sudbury on the board when he lifted a feed from Alex Valade over Melfort's Kristian Coombs at 5:35 of the second, but the the SJHL reps responded with a power-play tally by Ashton Hutchinson, then an even-strength marker off the stick of Zac Somers in the final minute of the frame.
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Beaulne denied Tristin Ziola on a breakaway early in the third, but Reilley Kotai made it a 5-1 Melfort lead midway through the period. Bryson Aikens added an empty netter and Ashton Paul tacked on one more power-play goal as the Mustangs clinched a semifinal spot against the Trenton Golden Hawks, champions from the Ontario Junior Hockey League, on Saturday evening. Start time is 9:30 p.m. ET.
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