By Olivia Bullen via Hockey Canada

SUDBURY, Ont. – Luke Mylymok scored a hat trick and added an assist, and the Notre Dame Hounds won their history-making fifth national championship with a 5-1 win over the Cantonniers de Magog in the gold medal game Sunday night at the 2018 TELUS Cup.

The Hounds became the first team to ever win five national titles and the first team to win all seven games in regulation at Canada’s National Midget Championship since the Riverains du Richelieu in 1987. They also set the record for consecutive games without a loss at the tournament, at 22.

The win also completed a perfect 20-0 postseason for Notre Dame, which went 9-0 to win the SMAAAHL championship, and won all four games at the West Regional before going seven-for-seven in northern Ontario.

Zach Plucinski got the scoring started five minutes into the first period, hammering a one-timer past Magog goaltender Rémi Poirier for the lone goal in an opening frame that saw the Cantonniers hold a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal.

Mylymok made it 2-0 at 2:42 of the second period off a won face-off by Nolan Renwick, and Ethan Ernst buried a Cordel Larson rebound on the power play for the third Notre Dame goal at 12:23.

Mylymok finished a dominant period with his seventh goal in four games, parking himself in the high slot and finishing a set-up from Renwick – who had three assists in the period – for a four-goal lead after 40 minutes.

The Cantonniers tried to battle back in the third period, finally getting a puck past Hounds netminder Aaron Randazzo when Jérémy Rainville raced into the Notre Dame zone and found Simon Pinard to get Magog on the board, but that would be the only one of 30 shots to beat Randazzo.

Down three with time running out, the Cantonniers put Poirier on the bench with three minutes left, giving Mylymok the opportunity to finish hit hat trick into the empty net and clinch the gold for the Hounds.

Mylymok finished the tournament as the leading scorer, racking up nine goals and 13 points in seven games. He was at his best when it mattered most, recording six points in two medal round games.

The 2019 TELUS Cup will be held April 22-28 in Thunder Bay, Ont., with the Thunder Bay Kings playing host.