Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Arnprior’s Eric Lanciault ended the Deseronto Bulldogs season with his goal 8:35 into overtime during Saturday’s EOSHL Wild Card Game.
That goal lifted the home team Rivermen to a 5-4 victory over the Bulldogs, advancing them to the next round of the playoffs while leaving the Bulldogs to pack their equipment and start thinking about next season.
Deseronto entered the matchup as the lower seed, meaning they’d need to sweep the two game home-and-home series while the Rivermen needed just one win to advance.
The Bulldogs looked well on their way to bringing the series home for a Sunday afternoon showdown, leading 4-2 nearing the halfway mark of the third. Jonny Hill scored twice for the ‘Dogs, opening the scoring just under seven minutes into the game and then adding some insurance with a power-play strike with 11:55 to go in regulation, pushing the lead to 4-2.
The Rivermen rallied however as Sutton Allard scored to cut the lead to one before Cole Peck knotted the game at 4-4 with six minutes left on the clock, his goal coming on the power-play.
That score held until Lanciault’s game winner.
Greg Arnburg and Joey Mayer also scored for the Bulldogs in the losing effort. Corey Kuypers took the loss, turning away 22 of 27 shots. Erik Miksik picked up the win, stopping 30 of 34.
The Rivermen will now prepare for a best-of-five series with the Tweed Oil Kings.