RED LAKE, Ont. – For the first time in team history, the Red Lake Miners are Bill Salonen Cup champions.
The Superior International Junior Hockey League team on Saturday clinched the title with a 3-2, home-ice win over the Kam River Fighting Walleye, taking the best-of-seven series in six games.
Jordan Baranesky scored the cup winner, notching the lone goal of the second period that gave the Miners a 3-1 lead at the time.
Nic Bolin and Noah Kramps also scored for Red Lake, a team making it's third SIJHL final appearance.
Colton Crysler and Jeremy Dunmore, who cut the Miners lead to one 2J:42 into the second, scored for the Fighting Walleye, who finished atop the league standings during the regular season.
Jaxson Taupert made 25 saves in net for Red Lake, while Eric Vanska stopped 40 of 43 shots he faced for the Fighting Walleye.
The Miners, with the win, earned an automatic berth at this month's revamped, 10-team Centennial Cup in Evestan, Sask.
