In a rematch of the 2018 North American Cup Final, the Tonka Bay Bombers defeated the Mississippi Mojo 3-2 to win the 2019 North American Cup. This tourney has its roots all the way back to 1984 so it has a long tradition of kicking of the new winter USA Bandy League bandy season. This year’s tourney featured all six of the USA Bandy League’s Elite teams. 

The Bombers came out flying to start the tourney, defeating the Minnesota Blades 11-3 in Game 1 of the round robin series and then were able to defeat the Bandoliers 6-3 in tough Game #2. In the other bracket, Mike Hosfield’s Mississippi Mojo squad defeated Duluth Dynamo 11-5 and then upset the Flying Sparrows 6-5 in a nail biter to reach their second straight NAC Final. 

In the Championship Final, the Bombers high powered offense led by Mikael Lickteig, Luke Greiner, Murph Dwyer and Connor Gaarder dominated the action. But Mojo keeper Derek Melander, who always seems to step up against the Bombers, held firm. The Bombers finally struck first, but the Mojo scored the next two goals to take the lead. Lickteig tied it up 2-2 on a corner goal blast midway through the second half and the clocked ticked down to where it looked like it would go to overtime. However, with only 25 seconds left, Lickteig took the ball deep down the wing, crossed it into the middle to Mac Williams who then made a short backhand pass to Greiner. Greiner stayed calm, then flipped a backhand shot past Melander to give the Bombers the Championship in dramatic fashion. 

Interesting to note that Bombers, who were on the brink of folding the team a few years ago, now hold both of the major Elite winter bandy trophies including the North American Cup and Gunnar Cup. In sport, as in life, one must always believe there is always light at the end of the tunnel.