Two Paths to the Final: Lumberjacks Rally, Drillers Blank Brahmas

Granite City 4 @ Rochester 3 (OT) - In a semi-final showdown between two recent Fraser Cup champions, the Granite City Lumberjacks staged a dramatic comeback to defeat the Rochester Grizzlies 4-3 in overtime. Granite City, a four-time Fraser Cup champion (most recently in 2023), erased a two-goal deficit to knock off Rochester, who captured the title in 2022.

The Grizzlies came out flying in the first period, as Mason Decker buried a pair of goals at 7:55 and 5:23 to give Rochester an early 2-0 advantage. Granite City answered in the second with a power-play strike from Coltin Wassengeso at 17:02, but Rochester restored its two-goal lead at 5:12 when Jace Jordan made it 3-1.

Facing elimination, the Lumberjacks surged in the third period. Micah Saxon converted on the power play at 5:32, and Carter Oothoudt found the equalizer at 13:23 to tie the game at 3-3.

In overtime, Eli Tiernan played hero, scoring the game-winner at 8:26 off a feed from Teagan Dodge to complete the comeback and send Granite City back to the Fraser Cup Championship.

Granite City outshot Rochester 37-29, while goaltender Nathan Mach turned aside 26 shots in the victory.

Louisiana 4 @ Texas B 0 - The defending Fraser Cup Champions kept their repeat hopes alive, advancing to the Championship game with a 4-0 shutout of the Texas Brahmas.

Special teams played a key role, as the Drillers capitalized on two of their five power-play opportunities while their penalty kill unit held Texas scoreless on three chances.

The game’s first goal came in the opening period, and it stood as the only marker through the first 40 minutes, with Brayden Pelc giving Louisiana a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second period, the Drillers struck again on the power play in the third, as defenseman Dayton Ruppel extended the lead to 2-0.

With their season on the line and a trip to the Championship at stake, Texas pulled goaltender Gavin Erickson for the extra attacker, but Louisiana sealed the win with a pair of empty-net goals from Emerson LaRoche and Carter Gnau.

The shutout victory sends the Drillers back to the Fraser Cup Championship with a chance to repeat.