The Carroll Chargers rallied past the Fort Wayne Vipers in Overtime to secure a date on Saturday with the winner of the Leo Lions and the Homestead Spartans contest. The Chargers came out on top 4-3 over the Vipers. #50 Carson Carteaux was the starter for the Chargers. #1 Ben Marques was in the net for the Vipers.

1st period

The Chargers were awarded the Roy Chin Cup before the start of the game to signify the best record this season and the regular season champs. Once the puck dropped, the action swayed back and forth between the Vipers and the Chargers. Fort Wayne would head to the penalty box first for a trip. Right as the penalty had expired, Carroll’s Camden Drexler scored his third of the season. The Vipers retaliated about 7 minutes later as John Goodine scored his 1st in league play. Darcy Koch was strong on his skates which helped him send the puck to Goodine to get that assist. The Vipers created a lead for themselves a minute later as Christian Brown got the goal off a Logan Orsmby feed.

2nd period

The intensity of the game ramped up in the second period. The first four things on the scoresheet were penalties. Vipers’ Brown headed off for a hooking call at 14:05. Carroll’s Sam Phillips got called for tripping at 11:31. The energy in the game came to a boiling point when Simon Watson got called for a double minor for roughing. That call was spurred by a few jabs thrown. Dylan Carteaux also got called for a rough at the same moment which negated half of the double minor. Brody Burge scored his 14th goal of the season from a feed from Carter Gnau and Finn Cupp. The puck rocketed and hit the roof of the goalmouth for a power-play goal. Burge would keep himself in the middle of the action, but not for long as he got called for a rough with 1:54 left to go in the second frame.

3rd period

The Vipers scored about four minutes in to regain the lead once more. Jackson Bertels kept poking at the loose puck where Carteaux thought he had it covered and slid it in the center of the back of the net. The Vipers went back for the second to last time in the game when Logan Orsmby headed to the bin for a rough. Carroll scored on an even-strength opportunity, their first even-strength goal all game as Sam Krauhs tied the contest up which sent it to OT. Jackson Bertels would head to the box with about a minute thirty left to go in the game.

OT

Number 21, Carter Gnau scored 21 seconds into the Overtime Frame to lead the Carroll Chargers to the Memorial Cup Finals on Saturday. In a 4-on-3 overtime situation, the puck just slipped through the five-hole of goaltender Ben Marques to gain the lead for the first time in the contest.

1380’s Three Stars Of The Night

1. Carter Gnau (GWG, two-point night)
2. Ben Marques (20 saves)
3. Sam Krauhs (three-point night)

Article writen by Fiona Quinn.