Send this page to someone via email After a 4-3 victory against the Ottawa 67’s in Game 5 of the OHL Finals at TD Place Friday, the Guelph Storm are one win away from a trip to the Memorial Cup. The Storm led the best-of-seven series 3-2 with Game 6 in Guelph on Sunday afternoon. READ MORE: Toropchenko scores twice as Guelph Storm defeat Ottawa 67’s, tie OHL Finals 2-2 Nate Schnarr’s eighth goal of the playoffs at 12:39 of the second period would hold up to be the game winner. Alexey Toropchenko scored his seventh goal of the series and picked up an assist in the victory, while Anthony Popovich made 28 saves for Guelph. Cedric Ralph and Isaac Ratcliffe also score for the Storm. Story continues below advertisement "It's a matter of will." Coach @BearTourigny on what it takes to win at this point in the postseason.#67s #NoQuit pic.twitter.com/sq2WejLyRK — xyz – Ottawa 67's (@Ottawa67sHockey) May 11, 2019 Tye Felhaber had two goals for the 67’s and Sasha Chmelevski added the other. Cedrick Andree gave up four goals on 29 shots in the loss. READ MORE: Guelph Storm look to even up OHL Finals series with Ottawa 67’s One more win would send the Storm to their first Memorial Cup tournament since 2014. Game 6 is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Sleeman Centre in downtown Guelph. Larry Mellott will have the call live on 1460 CJOY.<doc-sep>GUELPH, Ont. — Isaac Ratcliffe and the Guelph Storm have been through so much over the last six weeks that a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes wasn’t about to faze them. That resiliency is a big reason they’re now headed to the Memorial Cup. Ratcliffe scored twice and added two assists in a five-goal second period as the Storm defeated the Ottawa 67’s 8-3 on Sunday to win the Ontario Hockey League final in six games. "We stayed strong, we stayed humble," Guelph’s 20-year-old captain said in the middle of chaotic on-ice celebration. "We’ve been there before and we did it again." After sweeping the Kitchener Rangers to open the playoffs, Guelph roared back from a 3-0 series deficit to stun the London Knights in the second round. The Storm then fell behind the Saginaw Spirit 3-1 in the OHL’s Western Conference final before winning three straight for another seven-game victory. Guelph lost the first two against Ottawa, but followed that up with four straight wins, including Friday’s 4-3 victory in the nation’s capital to head home with a 3-2 lead. "We had a tough start, but we had tough starts in most of the other series," said Storm centre and OHL playoff scoring leader Nick Suzuki, who had a goal and two assists. "The team never stops working." Dmitri Samorukov chipped in with two goals and two assists for Guelph, which last made the Memorial Cup in 2014. Cedric Ralph and Domenico Commisso had a goal and an assist each for the Storm, while Keegan Stevenson rounded out the scoring. Anthony Popovich finished with 23 saves for Guelph, which will open its Memorial Cup — junior hockey’s four-team national championship — Saturday against the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. "A very special group of kids," said Storm head coach George Burnett, who also led Guelph to the Memorial Cup tournament on his first go around with the club in 1998. "When we had bumps in the road they kept things calm, they kept me calm." Also the team’s general manager, Burnett made a number of big moves — including acquiring Suzuki and defenceman Sean Durzi from the Owen Sound Attack in January — with an eye towards a long playoff run. "The way we got here, the road we took … it’s unbelievable," said Durzi, who finished with two assists. Noel Hoefenmayer, Kody Clark and Sasha Chmelevski replied for Ottawa, which got 31 stops from Cedrick Andree. The 67’s opened the playoffs with an OHL-record 14 consecutive wins, but lost four straight as their season came to a screeching halt. "It’s tough to think about right now," Chmelevski said. "It’s going to be even worse later on, but very proud of the group we have. "We’re brothers for life." Down 2-0 after the first period, the Storm got going early in the second on a power play when Samorukov blasted home a one-timer. 67’s head coach Andre Tourigny was left seething in the lead-up to the penalty on what he saw as a blown icing call. "Tough calls will happen in the game," he said. "That one, for me, was an easy one. For sure I’m sour. "You don’t lose a series on one call, but that was not a good one." Kyle Maksimovich and Tye Felhaber then missed on terrific chances that would have made it 3-1 before Ratcliffe snapped a shot past Andree to tie things at 7:46. "We played the first 30 minutes really well," Tourigny said. "We had two grade-A scoring chances … that was the turning point." Ratcliffe gave his team its first lead with 5:17 left in the period on another man advantage when the Philadelphia Flyers draft pick redirected Suzuki’s pass inside an electric Sleeman Centre. Ralph made it 4-2 just 21 seconds later off a scramble, and Suzuki — named playoff MVP after the Montreal Canadiens prospect registered 42 points in 24 games — took a pass from Ratcliffe to stretch the Storm’s lead to three 53 seconds after that. Ottawa got one back on a two-man advantage with 1:08 remaining when Chmelevski fired his 12th, but Samorukov scored his 10th at 10:45 of the final period as Guelph’s power play struck for a third time. Ottawa got a man advantage and pulled Andree to make it 6 on 4, but couldn’t find the range before Commisso found an empty net with 4:25 left and Stevenson rounded out the scoring with 3:23 remaining. "It wasn’t an 8-3 hockey game," Burnett said. "We got a few bounces." The visitors got a huge break early when Hoefenmayer’s shot from outside Guelph’s blue line fooled Popovich just 2:59 into the first. The 67’s, who hadn’t dropped three straight games at any point in 2018-19 before the OHL final, doubled that lead at 8:30 moments before a Storm penalty was set to expire when Clark scored as Ottawa briefly looked to be in control. Ottawa lost No. 1 goalie Michael DiPietro to a high ankle sprain in Game 2, forcing Andree into his first action since the end of March. Andree finished the series with a save percentage of just .844 and a 5.15 goals-against average. The Ottawa native was solid early in Game 6, but things fell apart in a second period that propelled Guelph to the Memorial Cup. "We’ll enjoy this for one night," Burnett said. "We’ve got some work to do."<doc-sep>The Guelph Storm are ready for the challenge to wrap this up at home Article content The Guelph Storm can see the finish line and it’s only one victory away. Nothing has come easy in these playoffs for the Storm so it’s no surprise they’ve erased a 2-0 deficit in the OHL championship against the Ottawa 67’s with three straight wins and can win the title Sunday afternoon with a win in Game 6 at 2 p.m. at The Sleeman Centre. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or The Guelph Storm are ready for the challenge to wrap this up at home Back to video With a 4-3 decision over the 67’s in Game 5 Friday at The Arena at TD Place, the Storm have the momentum and as they return to Guelph after pulling off the first road win in this series the club was sitting comfortably in the driver’s seat. That doesn’t mean the club’s work is done by any stretch of the imagination because the Storm haven’t been in this position since sweeping the Kitchener Rangers in Round 1. “We look to our leadership,” said coach George Burnett after Friday’s win. “There’s a lot of guys there that we will look to. Staying in the present, staying calm and understanding there’s going to be bumps in the road and there’s going to be pushes.<doc-sep>They may have won a record-setting 14 straight playoff games, but it'll likely be the four straight losses that the Ottawa 67's will remember most. The 67's fell 8-3 Sunday to the Guelph Storm in what was a must-win Game 6 of the Ontario Hockey League final. The loss dashed the club's hopes for their first Memorial Cup berth since 2005. It also brought an unexpected end to what was a dominant season for the 67's, one where they finished first in the OHL's eastern conference with 50 wins, tying a club record. The 67's had won the first two games of the final series, but then were forced to deal with an injury to star goaltender Mike DiPietro in the first period of Game 2. While DiPietro didn't play another minute of the series, 67's head coach André Tourigny said his absence wasn't to blame for the team's inability to close things out. "It's two really good teams, and the margin between both teams was really tight. Three games [were settled] by one goal," Tourigny said. "You have to create your chances, but it was tighter than the score showed." 'To just come short is tough' Tye Felhaber, who topped all OHL players with 56 regular season goals, found it hard to hide his disappointment after Sunday's loss. "It's tough. We're such a close group, and we had such a great season. For it to just come short is tough, but you've got to look back on this season and be proud of it," Felhaber said. Guelph, which won the series four games to two, will now represent the OHL at this month's Memorial Cup in Halifax.<doc-sep>
OHL: Storm take Game 5 against 67's; one win away from capturing title OTTAWA — The Guelph Storm have a chance to capture the Ontario Hockey League championship on home ice. Cedric Ralph and Isaac Ratcliffe scored 13 seconds apart in the first period as Guelph went on to beat the host Ottawa 67's, 4-3 in Game 5 of the OHL final on Friday. Nate Schnarr and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Storm, who lead the best-of-seven final 3-2 and can win the J. Ross Robertson Cup on Sunday when they host Game 6. Guelph forward Nick Suzuki tacked on an assist for his league-high 39th point of the post-season. Tye Felhaber struck twice and has a playoff-leading 17 goals, while Sasha Chmelevski had the other for the 67's. Anthony Popovich made 28 saves for Guelph as Cedrick Andree turned aside 25-of-29 shots for Ottawa. Andree has been called upon in the series after starter Mikey DiPietro went down with an injury in Game 2. Ottawa trails in a series for the first time this post-season. The 67's swept their first three opponents and took the first two against Guelph to extend their playoff win streak to 14 games before the Storm took the next three. Guelph was the first fourth-seeded team in the West to win its conference this season when it knocked off the Saginaw Spirit for the Wayne Gretzky Trophy. The Storm erased a 3-1 deficit against the Spirit while also coming back from trailing 3-0 against the London Knights in the second round to reach the championship. Game 7 returns to Ottawa on Monday if needed. The Arena at TD Place at 8,855 on hand Friday for a the second straight sellout. The winner advances to the Memorial Cup in Halifax, which begins May 17.