Taking the cup at home was the icing on the cake of a sweet season that saw the Hornets squad have their best showing in years and their first championship in almost a quarter of a century.

Riding on a 36-3-3 regular season record, the first place Alliston team took a bye in the first round before eliminating the Erin Shamrocks in a four-game sweep in the semifinals.

The final series against the men in purple from Penetaguishene was almost a forgone conclusion given both teams regular-season records and the fact that the Kings are the 2006 and 2007 OHA Junior C Schmalz Cup Champions — the equivalent of an All-Ontario Jr. C title.

Alliston and Penetang dominated the league this year coming in first and second place respectively and relegating the other five teams to the middle and bottom of the pack.

After losing the first game of the final series 2-1 the Alliston squad came back hard winning four in a row, including Sunday’s nail biter that saw the Kings go ahead by two in the first 11 minutes of the opening period.

Alliston fans who were hoping for the win in their home arena might have been a little concerned at the start of the second frame, but the squad has pulled off several late turnarounds through the season.

Head coach Darrin Shannon said after Sunday’s game that the two-goal deficit didn’t shake his confidence in his team for the rest of the game.

“I actually thought we were going to win,” Shannon said. “We were doing some things wrong, but I still felt good about our team. I thought that if we got back to keeping the game simple, got back to doing what we needed to do, I still felt we were going to win the game.”

The tide began to turn early and quickly in the second when Kyle McPherson got the first Hornets’ goal followed up 56 seconds later when Kyle McDowell tied it up.

Robbie Rutledge gave Alliston the lead at the 7:30 mark when he fired in a slap shot from just inside the blue line during a power-play opportunity.

The Hornets blazed onto the ice in the third period scoring four more to pretty much end the game by mid period.

Aaron Maltais, Jason Campeau, Kurtis Brossard, and Thomas Faris, picked up a goal each in the final frame.

Adam Heskamp and Cory Hastings got credit for the two Penetang goals.

Hornets netminder, Jon Porretta, played the entire series allowing only eight goals over the five games.

Alliston’s ability to hit hard in the third period has been a deciding factor in many of the team’s games this year.

“I think one of the strengths of our team is that we have four lines that can all play,” Shannon said of the squad’s late-game effort. “That doesn’t always translate into first shifts, first period, but I think over the course of a game, and over the course of a series. That’s something that does help. We have four lines that can all play and we get rolling them over and that becomes an issue for another team at the end of a game because we’re able to keep going hard all the time.”

Alliston General Manager and former player Rick Bartlett has been with the team since 1991 and was the Hornets’ goalie during the 1970s.

“It’s just great to be part of it all,” he said after Sunday’s win. “To finally see everything come together after all the work that we’ve done over the last five years. I think the players knew that we were serious about putting a championship team together. I think they bought into Darrin and Mike’s (Hough) system and the rest of the coaches.”

The championship means the Hornets now go on to the next level in the quest for the Schmalz cup and will go up against the winner of the final series in the Western Junior C Hockey League between the Walkerton Hawks and Kincardine Bulldogs, who won last year’s league title. Walkerton is currently leading the series 3-2 over Kincardine. The next game is slated for tonight (Wed., March 19) at 8:30 p.m. in Walkerton at the Walkerton Community Centre with game seven Thurs., March 20 at 8:30 p.m. in Kincardine, if needed.

That series and The Hornets’ next series is being broadcast live on CKNX Radio AM 920 out of Wingham. Although you might not be able to pick up the broadcasts on your radio, audio streaming is available online on your computer with Windows Media Player.

Although the schedule for the next round hasn’t been set, the winner of the Western series will tentatively meet Alliston for game one of the next round on Sat., March 22 at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre.

Regardless of when it starts tickets are available in advance with an attendance cap of 875 to comply with fire regulations. Tickets sales begin today (Wednesday) at the New Tecumseth Recreation Complex kiosk. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors and $6 for children under 12. The prices have increased slightly because they are set by the Ontario Hockey League in the finals