By Brendon Crossman

The Mississauga Reps are in the draft stage of writing their Cinderella story.

Despite falling 6-1 to the OEMHL finalist Ottawa Jr. 67’s today, the Reps are still in good position to advance to the quarterfinals in the OHL Cup.

One of six teams invited as a wild card entry by the OHL Cup Selection Committee, the Reps were the only GTHL team – of three clubs in that stage – to advance into the tournament.

The club carried the underdog torch even before winning their wild card game, after going winless in their final seven regular-season and playoff contests, including a five-game first-round defeat to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens.

Goaltender Andrew Gabriele backstopped his club to a 1-0 win in their round robin opener against the GTHL Playoff champion Toronto Marlboros. It was their second win in four head-to-head matchups this season, following a 3-2 victory on Oct. 8.

Not to be outdone by his goaltending partner, Mario Peccia turned aside every Team NOHA shot in their second contest on Wednesday night to guide the Reps to a 4-0 win.

After relying on a balanced attack all season, the Reps have been carried by their top line of Devlin Shanahan (1-4—5), Paul Violo (1-2—3) and Nicholas Isaacson (2-0—2). The trio also combined for four points (1-3—4) in the wild card game, and has scored the game-winning goal in two of their three overall victories.

While top spot in the Nash Division is conceivable, a second place finish appears more likely for the Reps. They need to win their final round robin game against the Halton Hurricanes (0-2-0) on Friday (1:15 p.m. at Scotiabank Pond Rink 1) and hope for a 67’s victory over the Marlboros (3:30 p.m. Friday on Rink 2).

If they wrap up second place, the Reps will face the top seed from the Lindros Division in the quarterfinals.