Bandits fall in overtime in RBC Cup final
COBOURG, ON – The powerhouse campaign of the 2016-17 Brooks Bandits came to an end in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday night, as a 2-1 lead over the 2017 RBC Cup host Cobourg Cougars evaporated late, leading to a 3-2 overtime win for the host team in the championship final.
Coming off a 4-0 win over the Terrebonne Cobras in Saturday’s late semifinal, the Bandits allowed the opening goal of the game when a defensive zone turnover led to a pass across by Connor MacEachern to Jamie Huber, whose shot from the right circle beat Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) for his first point of the tournament and a 1-0 Cobourg lead just 3:56 into the game. It snapped a shutout streak of nearly 170 minutes for Benson.
But the Bandits got the equalizer just under five minutes later, when a series of chances by Parker Foo (Edmonton, AB) from the left circle produced a rebound for Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) at the right side of the Cougar net. While falling to the ice, Jean backhanded the loose puck in to knot the game up at 1-1.