Kings top Rustlers in overtime thriller to win bronze

Lloydminster, AB - The men's bronze medal matchup was another instant classic, with the Kings facing off against the host Rustlers. Lakeland won the pool matchup 3-1, but it was a very tight affair.

In the rematch, emotions were high, with both teams playing as hard as they could for a medal. Almost 13 minutes of action took place before Ajdin Sercevic scored to put the Kings up by one, but the Rustlers tied the game almost immediately afterward, thanks to a deflection by Vinny Da Silva. The rest of the half featured quality chances, but neither side could convert.

Seven minutes into the second, Nathan Tran had a pretty conversion to put Lakeland up by one, then a pass out of the corner to Josh Malin with 8 minutes remaining gave the home side a two-goal lead. Several minutes went by of firm defence, but the Kings continued to press, scoring with less than a minute off of a Skipper Martin shot. With 12 seconds left, the Kings took advantage of a miscue on the Lakeland side on a sideline kick-in, sending the game to overtime.

The extra periods were even harder fought between the two teams, before a foul by Lakeland gave the Kings a free kick with 36 seconds remaining. There, a Grant Johnson shot went off a Rustlers defender, allowing RDP to hold off the Rustlers for the dying frames of the game.

Sarcevic was the POG for the Kings and recognized as a tournament all-star, while the Rustlers highlighted their graduating players, including Eric Roth, Tran, Tyson Wagner, Gavin Quinlan and Oba Nassar.