Lacombe Generals fell short at the Allan Cup this afternoon, losing 7-4 to the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts.

With the loss, the Generals couldn’t repeat as Allan Cup champions.

Although it wasn’t what they hoped for, Head Coach Curtis Austring said he was proud of how far they’ve come as a team.

“They gave everything they had all week and they wanted to win.”

“It hurts right now and it sucks right now, but I’m hoping they look back after the years and say ‘you know what’ we had a good run in our first season in Lacombe.”

Generals played five straight games up to this point including a double overtime game. Fatigue may have been factor, said Austring.

“It’s a tough tournament if you hit that quarter-final game, you got a long road.”

“It’s not easy at this level. It’s a huge difference when you’re playing five straight opposed to having days off.”

Penalty trouble really hurt the Gens, giving up four power play goals, something Austring said is the recipe for losing.

“We got some calls that hurt us for sure. It’s kind of been our Achilles heel this year and it especially hurt in this tournament.”

“They have a deadly powerplay and did what they had to do.”

Gens Evan Oberg started the scoring midway through the first period, but with Ian Barteaux in the box for slashing, Cataracts Collin Circelli tied up just minutes later.

Stuart Macrae gave the Cataracts the lead heading into the first intermission, scoring on a penalty shot.

The second period saw a flurry of goals from the Cataracts, scoring three goals in the first three and a half minutes including Macrae’s second of the game.

Former General Matthew Stefanishion and Matt Bragg were the two other goal scorers.

Gens Eric Galbraith scored his first of the tournament, cutting into the four-goal at 5-2 heading into the third period.

Circelli added his second goal of the game midway through the third, ending any hope of a comeback for Generals.

Chris Rauckman and Teggan Moore scored for the Generals in the third, but it wasn’t enough.

Macrae added an empty net goal for the hat-trick.