Ste Anne Aces lead provincial final 1-0 after game 1 win

The Ste Anne Aces are one game away from becoming provincial champions once again.

The Aces nabbed a 4-2 win on home ice over the Killarney Shamrocks, the champions of the Tiger Hills Hockey League, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three provincial final.

The Shamrocks took a 1-0 lead in game one, played March 30 at the Maurice Chaput Arena, but Ste Anne stormed back to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.

Braden Purtill got the South East Manitoba champions on the board, when Mathieu Moreira picked up a rebound in the slot. With goaltender Brian Archibald way out of his crease to make the initial save, Moreira circled below the goal-line, then banked a shot off Purtill, who had parked himself right in front of the Killarney cage, and into the back of the net.

Archibald was excellent all night, stopping 52 shots in the loss.

A pair of second-period goals off the rush, both assisted by Brenden Walker, put Ste Anne up two. A late second period marker from Ty Enns, his second of the game, drew the western visitors within one, but despite pressing for an equalizer in the third period, Travis Bosch and the Ste Anne defenders showed some great defending in front of their own net to deny chances.

The Aces also had two goals disallowed in the second period, as Caleb Paisley deked around Archibald on a breakaway, but put the puck in along the ice from an impossible angle after the goaltender knocked the net off its moorings.

Another goal was disallowed after referees ruled Stephane Pattyn directed the puck into the net with a high stick.

Burke Heide single-handedly saved a goal, diving to clear a puck from the crease as a Killarney attacker had a completely open net. Purtill added an empty netter in the final minute to clinch the game for Ste Anne.

Game two is set for Killarney April 5. If a game three is needed, it will be at the Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach with puck drop at 7 p.m. April 6.