The Canberra Brave are one win away from ending their four-year drought and getting their hands on the Goodall Cup.
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The Brave booked a ticket to the Australia Ice Hockey League grand final on Friday night with a 6-1 win against the Newcastle Northstars.
Their last hurdle comes on Sunday, again against Northstars who won the preliminary final on Saturday night over the Sydney Bears.
Following the last two cancelled seasons, it marks the first time the Brave can make right their semi-final knockout in 2019.
And they are determined to do so.
Brave goaltender Alex Tetreault, who had to make a number of saves during the final period, said their focus had already shifted to the final dance.
"[Friday] night's win was obviously really important in giving us the extra day of rest before the grand final, but we really haven't accomplished anything yet," he said.
"We're just doing the little things now to prepare properly and focus in on the next game.
"We need to play the way we've played all season but step it up to another level, keep playing with confidence and energy, support each other and go to war to lift this cup for Canberra."
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It was the Northstars who opened the scoring in their major semi-final in the seventh minute. A penalty left the Brave a man-down and Robert Malloy capitalised.
The Brave defended two more penalties, that became a five-on-three man advantage to the Northstars, before going on the attack.
A short-range strike from Mitch Henning made it 1-1 heading into the second period.
The Brave went on the attack from the opening whistle, allowing veteran centre Joey Hughes to put his side up by one.
Ten minutes later, he doubled the Brave's advantage after seizing on an error by Newcastle's goaltender to make it 3-1.
It was an all Brave affair in the final period.
A short-range strike in the sixth minute by Wehebe Darge opened the scoring, before the Brave added another goal in the 13th minute through forward Tyler Kubara.
Before the final blow to the Northstars chances was delivered by Brave captain Kai Miettinen, to end it 6-1.
After claiming the H Newman Reid Trophy for the third time, as they finished top of the regular season standings, the Brave are chasing the last bit of silverware.
The Brave have their sights on bringing the Goodall Cup back to Canberra on Sunday.
Australian Ice Hockey League grand final - Canberra Brave v Newcastle Northstars, Sunday, 2pm at Docklands Icehouse, Melbourne.
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
