BEDFORD, N.S. — The Eastern Express became the first Island team to reach the bantam final of The Chronicle Herald East Coast Ice Jam on Sunday, losing 5-1 to the Moncton Hawks.
Moncton, the defending champs, built 3-0 and 4-1 period leads.
Luke Patterson led the way with two goals and an assist while Philippe Collette had two goals and Kaden Evoy rounded out the scoring for Moncton, which scored twice on the power play.
Evan Nicholson from Ross Campbell and Caleb MacDonald accounted for Eastern’s goal on the power play.
Samuel LeBlanc earned the win while Jackson Macdonald took the loss.
The Express went 2-1 in preliminary round action before defeating the Gulls from St. Margarets Bay, N.S., 11-7 in the Round of 16, the Fredericton Blues 3-2 in quarter-final action and the East Hants, N.S.,-based Rangers 3-2 in the semifinal.
The Mid-Isle Matrix, Central Attack and Prince County Warriors each went 2-1 in preliminary round play. The Matrix and Warriors lost in the Round of 16 while Central was eliminated in the quarter-final.
Eastern’s Harry Clements of High Bank was named the tournament’s top defenceman.
Central Attack captain Luke Coughlin was named a second team all-star while teammate Cam Squires made the first team.
The tournament started in 2012 as a midget tournament with the bantam division being added the following season.
The Steele Subaru squad from Dartmouth, N.S., beat the Halifax McDonalds 3-1 in the midget final.
The Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Knights went 2-0-1 in the preliminary round, defeated King’s Edgehill 4-3 in the Round of 16 and the Northern Moose 5-4 in the quarter-final before losing 9-1 to Halifax in the semifinal.
The Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild went 0-2-1 and didn't qualify for the playoffs.
