North Stars fall in Dudley Hewitt championship game

The Oakville Blades claimed the 2010 Dudley Hewitt Cup after defeating the Fort William North Stars 2-1 Saturday night.

The Blades opened the scoring in the first period, and the Stars evened things up midway through the second. The game remained a tie until the five-minute mark of the third period when Blades’ Ryan Murphy redirected a shot from the point to beat the North Star’s net minder.

This is the second consecutive year the North Stars have made it to the finals of the Dudley Hewitt Cup. They were defeated last year by the Kingston Voyageurs.

The Stars defeated the host Soo Thunderbirds 3-0 to earn their way into the finals.

The North Stars squeaked into Friday’s semi-finals game after goal differential tie-breaker. Fort William’s 1-2 round robin record had them in a three-way tie with the Abitibi Eskimos and Soo Thunderbirds.