The USW All-Stars weathered a four-goal comeback by the City Slickers before tallying in overtime to claim the title in the 12th United Steelworkers Local 6166 hockey tournament April 21.
The result was the opposite of last year when the city team beat USW for the title.
Steve Matechuk was the hero for the champions, scoring two minutes into overtime to give USW the 5-4 victory. They had built up a 4-0 first period lead with a pair of goals from Alex Head and singles by Tyler Cameron and Jeff Katchmar but the City Slickers whittled away at it, getting on the scoreboard with a second-period tally by Jeff English, who also got his team’s third goal in the third period, while Shannon McFadden and Jamie Valentino contributed one goal apiece, both in the third period.
The tournament has been played a dozen times over 14 years, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 after a 10-year uninterrupted run as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
