Holy Cross - Challenge Cup champions (Gord Dunphy photo)

Holy Cross beat St. Lawrence in the Challenge Cup final 1-0 after extra time. An intense game saw 2 red cards in normal time, so both teams were playing a man short. They played 90 minutes without a goal and it was not until the second period of extra time that the deadlock was broken when Aaron Anstey netted the winner. Holy Cross now advance to the national championships in Saskatoon. An excellent final weekend saw three of the four games go to extra time.

Holy Cross had beaten Mount Pearl 3-1 in Saturday’s semi final, and meet St. Lawrence in Sunday’s final. Jeremy Babstock opened the scoring after just 8 minutes, before Ryan Canes replied after 24. There was no more scoring before 90 minutes were up, so the game went to extra time. Two goals from Zack Wade and Corey Moore put the game away for Cross in the 104th and 106th minute.

On Friday, in the 1st/2nd matchup, St Lawrence beat  Holy Cross 2-1. They took the lead when Rudy Norman scored in the first half, but Cross pulled level thanks to an own goal after 55 minutes.  Sean Edwards netted the winner with two minutes remaining. St. Lawrence advance to Sunday’s final, and Holy Cross face Mount Pearl in today’s semi. Mount Pearl and Western United battled for 120 minutes without deciding a winner, before the result was decided on penalty kicks. The see-saw game saw Mount Pearl taking an early lead, only for Western to fight back and take the lead in the 88th minute. Ryan Caines’ 2nd goal tied it up a minute later, and two 15 minutes of extra time resulted in a goal apiece.