LIONS END PRIVATEERS’ SEASON WITH WIN IN PRELIMINARY FINALE

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Anthony Duclair and Patrick Walsh finished with a goal and two assists each as theLions du Lac St-Louis wrapped up second place and ended the season of the St. John’s Privateers with a 6-1win over the 2011 TELUS Cup hosts on Friday night.

The win means Lac St-Louis (3-2) will meet Winnipeg in Saturday’s early semifinal (2 p.m. NT), while thePrivateers will not have a chance to improve on the bronze medal they won as the Fog Devils at last year’sNational Midget Championship.

Knowing they needed a win to play again in front of their home fans at Mile One Centre, the Privateers(1-3-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Marcus Cuomo slipped a backhand from the slot past Lac St-Louis goaltender Francois Brassard just 6:37 in.

But the Lions took just 71 seconds to respond – Walsh banged in a loose puck at the side of St. John’s goaltender Matt Jenkins, quieting the pro-Privateers crowd of more than 2,300 at Mile One.

Lac St-Louis took its first lead of the game late in the period on a power play when Duclair worked a give-and-go to perfection with Jonathan Drouin, who pulled the puck across the crease before beating Jenkins.

The Quebec Region champions recorded the only goal of the second period, and it was a heartbreaker. Just16 seconds after the Privateers failed to score on a power play, during which they had two or three glorious chances,  Duclair snuck the puck past Jenkins on a wraparound for the 3-1 goal.

The Lions put the game out of reach with three third-period goals, two off the stick of Alexandros Soumakis and one from Yann Devoyault in the final minute.

The Privateers’ loss means the host team’s gold medal drought will reach 20 years – the Riverains duRichelieu were the last host team to win the national championship, in 1991. The Leduc Oil Kings will have the next chance; they host the 2012 TELUS Cup next April.