Lake Cowboy takes down unbeaten Ace to repeat as Celly Cup champion

A full house was on hand for the Celly Cup championship game, and the matchup featured the two proud franchises most accustomed to playing on the league’s biggest stage.

Pellicci Ace Hardware entered with a perfect 7-0 record, the league’s most explosive offense and an opportunity to complete an unbeaten season. Defending champion Lake Cowboy arrived with history of its own and an opportunity to repeat.

When it was over, the Cup still belonged to the Cowboy. Lake Cowboy delivered a ferocious opening half, built a commanding four-goal lead, and defeated Ace 5-1 to capture its second consecutive Celly League championship.

Between them, Lake Cowboy and Ace have captured seven of the league’s eight bids to the championship game. MNHockeyTv remains the only franchise to break their stranglehold on the Celly Cup game.

The energy inside Braemar South was palpable from the opening faceoff. The pace quickened with every shift, the puck movement was sharp and Lake Cowboy attacked in waves.

Veteran Josie Hemp served as the catalyst. Hemp opened the scoring with 26:32 remaining in the first half, converting a feed from Lauren O’Hara for her third goal of the season. She then helped create Lake Cowboy’s second goal at 18:27, setting up Alexa Hanrahan to make it 2-0.

Hemp’s impact extended far beyond the scoresheet. She competed all over the rink, disrupted an Ace four-on-one at the blue line and repeatedly made the key plays including breaking up a four-on-one that have defined her career with Lake Cowboy.

Lauren Zawoyski stretched the lead to 3-0  for Lake Cowboy with 8:55 remaining, finishing a play created by Sydney Burnevik and Tori Anderson.

Lake Cowboy continued to pour it on late in the half. Stella Retrum scored with 2:52 on the clock, converting a setup from O’Hara and Isa Goettl to send the defending champions into the break with a stunning 4-0 advantage.

Ace entered the championship game with a league-leading 38 goals, 17 more than Lake Cowboy, the next-closest team. Its plus-23 goal differential was the only positive mark among the four Celly League teams which is staggering.

None of that firepower mattered during Lake Cowboy’s opening-half ambush. Dani Strom stopped all 11 first-half shots she faced, repeatedly denying an Ace lineup that had overwhelmed opponents throughout its perfect season.

Lake Cowboy needed only 1:59 of the second half to extend its lead. Isa Goettl finished a crisp passing sequence from O’Hara and Zawoyski with 28:01 remaining, giving the Cowboy a 5-0 advantage.

O’Hara completed a terrific championship performance with three assists while rounding out her Celly League campaign with 4g-6a-10pts .

Ace responded by generating its best sustained pressure of the night, outshooting Lake Cowboy 19-17 during the second half. Layla Hemp took over in goal and slammed the door, turning aside 18 shots during a busy and impressive closing half.

Lily Barrett finally broke through for Ace with 3:50 remaining, scoring from Lola Reid and Meredith Jensen. The goal ended Lake Cowboy’s shutout bid but did nothing to alter the outcome.

Lake Cowboy finished with a 37-30 advantage in shots and received 29 combined saves from Strom and Layla Hemp.

The win for Lake Cowboy improved them to 6-2, spoiled Ace’s bid for perfection and claimed the Celly Cup for the second consecutive season.

The regular season belonged to Pellicci Ace Hardware.

Championship night belonged to Lake Cowboy.