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Little Caesars beat Mississauga Rebels to help the US earn Nations Cup trophy

MiHockey Staff

Needing a victory for the USA to win the 2012 Nations Cup trophy, the 2000 Little Caesars squad responded by defeating the No. 1 ranked team in Canada, the Mississauga Rebels, by a score of 3-0. After a scoreless 2 periods, Little Caesars’ Ryan Lautenbach tallied the eventual game-winner less than 30 seconds into the third. Aiden Gallacher followed 7 minutes later with a shot from the right circle to make it 2-0. And Max Ellis sealed the victory with an empty-netter in the final minute of play.

Robert Pegrum stood tall in net in earning the shutout. Robert and the Caesars’ defense withstood two 5-on-3 situations, with the second one lasting just over 1:30 early in the third period when the score was still 1-0. In killing the penalties, the LC defense blocked more shots than they allowed through to the net.

The entire Caesars squad played outstanding in defeating a very talented Mississauga team – a team whose last loss was back in September. After the game, players from all the US teams joined Little Caesars on the ice to celebrate the USA victory.

Tournament Summary

After round robin play, the score was in favor of the U.S. 25-21, giving them home ice advantage throughout Sunday’s playoff action.

On Sunday for the final round and playoff action, the 6th seed U.S. Team would play the 6th seed Canadian team with the games counting for one point, while the 5th seed games counted for two points, the 4th seed for three, the 3rd seed game for four points, the 2nd seed games for five points and the 1st seed games for six points.

Results from Sunday’s action:

  • The 6th seed game – St. Louis Blues defeated the Toronto Titans 6-3. Providing 1 point for the U.S
  • The 5th seed game – Markham Waxers defeated the Mid Fairfield Blues 5-3. Providing 2 Points for Canada
  • The 4th seed game – Philadelphia Little Flyers defeated the Lambton Jr. Sting 3-2. Providing 3 points for the U.S.
  • The 3rd seed game – York Simcoe Express and Cleveland Barons skated to a 2-2 tie. Providing each side with 2 points.
  • The 2nd seed game – Elgin Chiefs defeated Honeybaked 5-1. This gave Canada a 9-6 lead with one game left.
  • The final game and 1st seed game of the tournament was between Little Caesars and the Mississauga Rebels (No. 1 Ontario). Little Caesars earned an impressive 3-0 shutout win to give the U.S. six points and the 12-9 overall win.

Little Caesars Roster:

Forwards: Sam Brennan, Max Ellis, Aiden Gallacher, Jonathan Gruden, Ryan Kerchoff, Joey Larson, Ryan Lautenbach, Jack VanDenBeurgeury, Antonio Venuto

Defensemen: Declan Carlile, Blake Conley, Tyler German, Gregory Kreutzer, Jacob Semik, Christopher Tamer

Goalies: Mitchell Connolly, Robert Pegrum