Warriors stay alive at Memorial Cup, advance to semifinals

The Moose Jaw Warriors have advanced to the semifinals of the Memorial Cup, staving off elimination Tuesday night in Saginaw.

A shorthanded goal by Aiden Ziprick — who only had a single goal in the WHL season — gave Moose Jaw the lead with 1:34 remaining in the game.

An empty-netter pushed the Warriors’ lead to 5-3 as Moose Jaw eliminated the Drummondville Voltigeurs at the Canadian junior championship tournament.

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Both teams came into the game with 0-2 records, meaning the loser would have their season come to an end.

Moose Jaw scored the first goal of the contest, with Vojtech Port putting the puck past Voltigeurs goalie Riley Mercer.

In the second period, Moose Jaw extended the lead with goals from Jagger Firkus — the WHL’s player of the year — and captain Denton Mateychuk.

But Drummondville battled back with a pair of goals in the period as well, with Justin Cote and Peter Repcik beating goaltender Jackson Unger.

Just 3:13 into the third period, Alexis Gendron equalized the game with his marker.

But with Firkus in the penalty box, Matthew Savoie led a breakout which eventually ended up on the stick of Ziprick, who scored the game-winner. Saskatoon product Brayden Yager scored the empty-netter.

Unger was named the player of the game after stopping 49 of the 52 shots he faced.

Moose Jaw will play in the semifinal game on Friday, taking on the loser of Wednesday’s game between the host Saginaw Spirit and OHL champion London Knights.