Red Deer's Brock England scored a pair of goals on Saturday to help Alberta advance to the WHL Cup final. (Photo by Taylor Lachance/ WHL)

By Ian Gustafson

Gold medal game

Alberta erases four-goal deficit to advance to WHL Cup final

Oct 26, 2024 | 5:13 PM

It was like something straight out of a movie.

Down 4-0 late in the second period, Team Alberta scored eight straight goals in a 9-5 victory over Saskatchewan in the semifinals at the WHL Cup in Red Deer.

Seattle Thunderbirds second round pick in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft Matthew Hilderman scored four goals. Red Deer’s Brock England, who is also a Thunderbirds prospect, added two goals and an assist in the historic come back.

England said after the game at the Peavey Mart Centrium it was fun to be a part of, but the most important thing was that they didn’t give up.

“Being down 4-0 we came together as a group and pushed until the final buzzer,” he said.

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“We know what we can do as a group, so we just tried to keep our cool. We knew we could get back into the game. We just had to push.”

Alberta came in as slight underdogs in the matchup after finishing in third pace in the standings with a 1-2-0-0 record. Saskatchewan finished in second with a 2-1-0-0 record.

England explained when they went down 4-0 they just stuck to their game plan, but more importantly, tried to remain energetic on the bench to keep morale high.

“Our first goal really got us going but after the second one we knew we were still in this game,” he added.

Despite getting out shot by Alberta 14-9, Saskatchewan came out on top in the first period scoring a pair of goals, one of which came on the powerplay.

Forward Blake Chorney, a first round draft pick of the Vancouver Giants, scored his fifth of the tournament just over five minutes in off a feed in front of the net by Kayden Stroeder.

Tri-City Americans prospect Trae Peterson scored Saskatchewan’s first powerplay goal with just over three minutes left in the opening frame.

Alberta had a few scoring opportunities including a powerplay attempt but were unable to find the scoresheet in the first period.

A minute into the second period, Red Deer Rebels prospect Cash Arcand-Vandale extended Saskatchewan’s lead after a one-timer from the right circle beat the goalie on the powerplay.

A minute and 40 seconds later, Chorney notched his second of the game to put his team up 4-0.

However, after Saskatchewan got into penalty trouble late in the period, Alberta came alive and scored three straight before the end of the frame.

Everett Silvertips first rounder Marco Dufour scored from a sharp angle to the right of the net off the pass from England.

With a minute left in the second period, Hilderman capitalized on another Alberta powerplay off an assists from Olds, native Crew Martinson.

England brought Alberta within a goal of tying it 35 seconds later after he finished off a beautiful passing play in front of the net.

Two and a half minutes into the third, England came up big again scoring his second of the afternoon to tie it.

Hilderman scored three more times to complete a four-goal performance. In addition, Alberta had goals from Jagger John, and Ossie McIntyre to secure the victory.

Saskatchewan’s Chorney also added one more late in the frame to complete a hat trick.

With the win, Alberta advanced to the gold medal game against Manitoba on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Manitoba took down undefeated Team B.C. 4-2 on Saturday to advance to the tournament final. The bronze medal game is set for 10:30 a.m.

“Both B.C. and Manitoba are great teams so we can’t underestimate whoever we play,” England added.