Union College claim Belpot as Giants beat Blaze
The grand final of the Friendship Four saw Union College claim the Belpot trophy with a win over Boston University, as the Giants took a road win over Coventry Blaze.
Boston’s Terriers had been the favourites going into the Friendship Four tournament – now in its fourth year and going from strength to strength.
Televised coast to coast in the States, the event showcases Northern Ireland to a North American audience while bringing fast-paced, hard-hitting NCAA hockey to Belfast.
The tournament also strengthens ties with sister city Boston and opens up local school children to new experiences as they enjoy visits from the US college teams before cheering on their new buddies when they take to the ice.
The first day of this year’s tournament saw Union claim their place in the final with a win in game one over Yale University, while Boston joined them by beating the University of Connecticut.
Saturday then saw Yale take third place with a 6-3 win over UConn, before it was time for the final contest – and what a battle it was.
Union’s Brett Supinski scored the opening goal of the game to put the Dutchmen into the early lead.
Seconds from the end of the first period, the Terriers found their equaliser though - through Ty Amonte.
Parker Foo’s goal in the second period put Union back in front, and his side were to keep hold of that narrow 2-1 lead throughout the rest of the game.
Boston battled hard and only a show-stopping save from Union netminder Darion Hanson prevented them drawing level again five minutes from the end.
With the trailing Terriers pulling their netminder Jake Oettinger with just 1.16 left on the clock, they really fought to the end to stay in the game – but Union stood strong and ultimately took the win.
That allowed the Dutchmen to lift the Belpot trophy – a reclaimed east Belfast school bell – and follow in the footsteps of inaugural champions UMass Lowell River Hawks and their successors Vermont Catamounts and last year’s winners Clarkson Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, with the Belfast Giants’ home area hosting the Friendship Four, they travelled to England to take on the Coventry Blaze in an Elite League clash.
The Giants were looking for their eighth league win in a row – and they got it, by the skin of their teeth and with just 59 seconds left on the clock.
The sides battled out a scoreless opening period, before the Blaze took the lead in the second with a goal from Alex Nikiforuk.
The Giants found their equaliser with a powerplay effort from Dustin Johner to make it 1-1.
It looked like the game might be heading into overtime, but Kyle Baun’s great work provided a very late and also shorthanded winner right at the death, making it 2-1 to the Belfast side.