Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos

With their season on the line, the Soo Eagles battled hard in front of a passionate hometown crowd at Pullar Stadium on Tuesday, April 7th, but ultimately fell just short as the Greater Sudbury Cubs secured a 4-3 overtime victory in Game Four to complete the series sweep and advance to the 2026 Copeland McNamara Cup Final.

The Cubs struck first in the opening period, as Grant Booth opened the scoring at 13:01 with his second goal of the postseason in an unassisted effort to make it 1-0. Just over a minute later, Sudbury extended their lead when Owen King netted his fifth of the playoffs at 14:02, finishing off a setup from Daks Klinkhammer to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage. The Eagles responded quickly, cutting the deficit to one at 14:24 as Brendan Boberg scored his first of the postseason, with assists going to Bradyn Walsh and Auge Cisar, sending the game into the intermission at 2-1.

In the second period, Sudbury regained their two-goal cushion at 6:14 when captain Daks Klinkhammer recorded his eighth goal of the playoffs, assisted by Caden Dubreuil to make it 3-1. The Eagles once again refused to back down, as CJ Zaharias brought the home side within one at 15:51, scoring his first of the postseason off a feed from Anden Marceau.

The third period saw the Eagles push hard for the equalizer, and their persistence paid off at 13:00. Gabriel Clark scored his first of the playoffs to tie the game 3-3, with Samuel Gold and Coulson Bell picking up the assists, igniting the crowd and forcing overtime.

In the extra frame, however, it was the Cubs who delivered the final blow. At 3:00 of the first overtime, Noah Aboflan scored the game-winning powerplay goal—his second of the postseason—with Daks Klinkhammer earning the assist, sealing the 4-3 victory and the series sweep for Sudbury.

Between the pipes, Dalton Hoornstra started for the Eagles, making 19 saves on 22 shots over 26:14 of play before Jace Knoerle took over, turning aside 15 of 16 shots in relief. For Sudbury, Matthew Vahramian was outstanding, stopping 36 of 39 shots to backstop the Game Four win.

With the victory, the Greater Sudbury Cubs advance to their third consecutive Copeland McNamara Cup Final, where they will face either the Timmins Rock or the Hearst Lumberjacks. The Rock currently hold a 3-0 series lead, with Game Four set for Wednesday, April 8th in Timmins.