BY PATRICK KING
sportsnet.ca

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- The Kootenay Ice finally met a 2-0 deficit they weren't able to overcome.

The Western Hockey League champs couldn't break through the MasterCard Memorial Cup host Mississauga St. Michael's Majors and in particular, goalie JP Anderson. The Majors scored a 3-1 win in the semifinal and will now face the Saint John Sea Dogs in Sunday's final.

"It's evident tonight sometimes you're not able to come out of it," Ice forward Cody Eakin said. "It's definitely bitter."

The Ice dug out of 2-0 holes in each of their two wins over Saint John and Owen Sound. The Majors, however, are a team that doesn't give much time or space and made it difficult for the Ice to gain the blue line.

It was perfect execution by Mississauga. The Majors forced the Ice to dump the puck in, with goalie JP Anderson tracking every puck down and clearing it out of the zone.

"Any time you can elude the forecheck obviously you're going to frustrate them," Anderson said. "You're going to take away some of their scoring chances because they won't be able to get in and set up."

Not to mention the fact it kept the Majors' back line fresh.

"It helps us a lot," Majors defenceman Stuart Percy said. "We can just go into the corners and be outlets and we don't have to worry about being run too much.

"He's definitely a great goaltender and I've been saying it all week, he's been our MVP all season."

Ice forward Drew Czerwonka was sent off for boarding just 34 seconds into the game, which opened the door for the home team. The Majors got the lead just over a minute in the game on a goal by Devante Smith-Pelly. Percy sent a pass across the slot to Smith-Pelly who ripped it quickly, not giving Ice goalie Nathan Lieuwen an opportunity to get in position.

Smith-Pelly continued his heroics in the second period. With the Majors swarming the Ice goal late in the second, the Majors forward picked the puck up in the corner and cut in to the high slot. He unleashed another shot that beat Lieuwen to the glove side.

"I think the start is something we need to work on or need to be better at," Ice captain Brayden McNabb said, talking as though his team's season will continue. "It's hard to come back. We were lucky enough to do it two games in a row, but a team that's so defensive like Mississauga - it's hard to come back like that and I think that was the biggest thing, our starts."

The Ice went into the second intermission down only one after Joe Antilla beat the buzzer with 1.2 seconds remaining. Antilla fired a rebound on an Eakin wrap-around over Anderson's right shoulder to give his team new life.

"That didn't faze us," Majors captain Casey Cizikas said. "They got that late goal and we just had to try to take away their momentum from the beginning of the period and I thought we did a good job of that."

Despite early pressure, the Ice were unable to find a way to beat Anderson for a second time. Chris DeSousa eliminated their comeback bid with an empty net goal with 55 seconds remaining in the third period.

Cizikas and head coach Dave Cameron will now have a rare third opportunity to win a championship this season. The two combined for a silver medal at the world juniors and lost in Game 7 of the Ontario Hockey League final to the Owen Sound Attack.

"I'm hoping so," Cizikas said when asked if the third time will be the charm. "You can talk about it all you want, you can draw it up all you want, it just comes down to how you play on the ice and I think we're going to be ready when Sunday comes around."

The Ice, meanwhile, will take solace in the fact they accomplished what so few thought they would by winning the WHL crown.

"We won a championship that 21 other teams never did and we got here and we gave it a good shot," Eakin said. "There's a lot of guys making some tears and stuff like that. In retrospect, we would have loved to continue and play on Sunday, but we did something phenomenal and we're proud to say we were the top three or four (team) in Canada."

With the loss, the Ice lost the chance to become the third team in tournament history to get to the final after playing in the tiebreak. The 2009 Windsor Spitfires and the 2002 Victoriaville Tigres are the only two to accomplish that feat.

The last host team to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup is the 2007 Vancouver Giants, who also lost their league championship series in overtime of Game 7.