Bill Weir Championship Series

(1) Leamington Flyers vs (2) London Nationals

The London Nationals are now one win away from their fourth straight GOJHL Western Conference Championship series after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Leamington Flyers this past weekend.

Game 2 was played in London on Saturday evening after the Nats took Game 1 just two nights prior. The Nationals got on the board first, with a snipe from Max Vinogradov to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.

The second period saw Leamington get a bit of a spark. After peppering Zach Springer between the Nationals’ cage in the opening minutes, they finally broke through after a scramble in front of the net resulted in Rory DiNiro poking it home to tie the game 1-1. Just moments later, the Flyers broke in on a two-on-one which Springer denied with a sprawling save. Zach Taylor was following the play though and was the first to the loose puck in the slot to put Leamington ahead 2-1. Despite being outshot through two periods of play, the Flyers enjoyed a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

Early in the third period, Max Vinogradov was able to beat Zach Borgiel at the side of the net to knot the game up at two. Riley MacRae was making his first appearance of the playoffs for London after suffering a concussion towards the end of the regular season. In his first game back, he was the beneficiary of a cross-ice pass from Vinogradov which MacRae promptly ripped past Borgiel to give the Nationals a 3-2 lead with the powerplay marker. Less than a minute later, MacRae would find himself with some room in the slot and popped the water bottle with his second goal in his first game of the playoffs. George Diaco added some insurance late in the third period to give London the 2-0 series lead with a 5-2 win in Game 2.

In Game 3 on Sunday evening, the Flyers were the ones who opened the scoring, with Ryan Gagnier notching his third of the playoffs. Late in the first period, the Nats would tie it up with a goal from Noah Tooke.

In the second period, Tooke would score his second of the game just five minutes into the frame to put London up 2-1. The Flyers came back just two minutes later with a goal from Josh King. Just three minutes later, Adam Keyes put the Nationals up again with his first goal of the playoffs. London would go into the second intermission up 3-2.

The Nationals played solid, shut-down hockey for the remainder of the game, with the Flyer’s lone goal in the third period with the extra attacker being bookended by two Cohen Kiteley empty net goals. London would skate away with a 5-3 win, and a 3-0 series lead.

Game 4 of the Bill Weir Championship will be played on Wednesday evening in London, with a Nationals win sending them to their fourth straight Sutherland Cup.

NBL Basketball – London Lightning

The London Lightning secured the top spot in the NBL Central division by sweeping a home-and-home with the Windsor Express over the weekend. On Friday night in Windsor, the Lightning engaged in a back-and-forth battle with the Express. Kevin Ware Jr. had a monster night for the Lightning, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, and was two assists shy of a triple-double.  Anthony Gaines Jr. also dropped 20 off the bench for the Lightning on 7-11 shooting.

On Sunday’s regular season finale at Budweiser Gardens, London handled the Express much easier with a 126-114 final. Garrett Williamson had a team-high 21 points, while teammate Marcus Capers had a 17-point, 10-rebound triple-double.

The Lightning will square off against the KW Titans in the first round of the NBL Playoffs as London searches for its third straight league championship.