The Whitehorse Old-timers Hockey League (WOHL) final came down to a shootout.

In the second of back-to-back games to decide the title, after losing the first game to EDI, Medicine Chest bounced back with a 5-3 decision Sunday night.

Jeremy Germaine broke the ice with 6:37 left in the first period to make it 1-0 Medicine Chest.

The first period ended with no further scoring.

In the second period, Willie McKenna wasted no time tying it up for EDI, scoring 14 seconds in.

Dustin Heffner gave EDI their first lead just 36 seconds later.

Geordan Clark came back with a tying goal for the Chest right off the draw just over a minute later.

Mervin Jacobsen restored the Chest’s lead on a rebound with 18:22 to go in the second.

Mike Gau built on the Chest’s lead with a goal with 14:07 left in the second.

Geoff Quinsey split the MC lead in half with a goal with 13:04 left in the period.

Germaine netted his second goal to round out the scoring with 9:39 to go in regulation time.

Since the teams split the two-game series, they reset the score to 0-0 and played five minutes of four-on-four overtime, which decided nothing, so on they went to a shootout.

Gus Morberg was up first for EDI and didn’t score.

Jamie Cairns went first for the Chest and was foiled by EDI keeper Stacy Bowden.

Willie McKenna was up next. His teammates gave him the gears before his attempt, saying, “Let’s go, Gavin!”, referring of course, to McKenna’s uber-talented son. McKenna was foiled by an “amazing” (according to an EDI player) save by MC goalie Gerald Tetlichi.

Michel Dubois, who was flying all night, broke the shootout goose egg, putting all the pressure on EDI general manager Dustin Heffner to tie it up. Unfortunately for EDI, Heffner was stopped, and for Medicine Chest, it was time to celebrate.

After their big victory, the Chest’s general manager, John Pereira, said, “We lost the first one pretty badly, but we knew as long as we won this game, that we would have a very good chance of winning it all, so we’re pretty happy about it.”

Regarding overtime, Pereira said, “It was like the rest of the game. It was very tight, so we knew it was going to be a matter of a mistake or a good play that was gonna make the difference.”

As for the shootout, Pereira said, “We went with our best three shooters and they went with their three best, so we were just lucky. Our goalie, Gerald, played great.”

Pereira said they had some players missing for the first game against EDI, as well as a couple injured players.

“We knew that for this game, everybody would be back and healthier, so we knew we had a good chance of winning this game.”

Pereira said the key to the win was simply, “Everyone just tried really hard. We knew we had to win and luckily we did it.”

Pereira added he wanted to thank the league for another great year of organization. “It takes a lot of work and sometimes it’s not always appreciated, everything that goes into it, from getting refs and scheduling.”

Tetlichi said the shootout was “hard.

“Their guys can move the puck well. They have good puck control and they kept me guessing. The second one (an incredible sprawling save on McKenna), I just guessed. Somehow got something in front of it. I was lucky.”

Tetlichi said the game was “really good.

“Came out flying, great having a couple players back, and everyone knew what happened last game, so everybody wanted to try a little harder. It was great to see.”

Tetlichi acknowledged there was a little extra incentive after they lost big in the first game against EDI.

“100 per cent. We lost 8-3, so we wanted to do better.”

Tetlichi added a thanks to captain Pereira “for putting together a great team. Made a team and look where we are. Last team standing at the end.”

EDI convincingly won the first game of the two-game final series 8-3 on Thursday with McKenna racking up three goals and three assists. Morberg chipped in two of his own, and singles came from Geoff Quinsey, Dustin Heffner and Pat Tobler. Cairns netted two for MC and Garrett Kuptana got the other.

With EDI winning that first game, Medicine Chest had to win the second to force an overtime/shootout session. And they did just that.

EDI got the bye to the final series as the number one seed by squeaking by #6 seed Titanium Storage 4-3 in overtime last Monday. Morberg scored for EDI with only 2:29 left to tie the game, and then he set up linemate McKenna with the winner less than a minute into overtime.

Medicine Chest (#2) defeated Kilrich (#4) by a 5-3 score in the 2 versus 3 game to advance to the final series. Geordan Clark led the charge with two goals. MC had previously defeated Yukon Inn (#5) 7-4 to get to the 2 vs 3 game; and Kilrich edged Tim Hortons (#3) 3-2 in overtime to earn their berth in the 2 vs 3 match.

The only order of business left in the 2023-24 season is the league’s Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. at 61 Wasson Place in Whitehorse.

– With files from Bernie Adilman