(Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

SJHL Finals Rematch

Mustangs lose lead late, fall to North Stars in finals rematch

Oct 10, 2019 | 10:00 AM

While the Melfort Mustangs lost on Wednesday, Oct. 9, they did extend their streak of not losing in regulation to 10 games.

On Wednesday at the Northern Lights Palace it was a rematch of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Finals back in May with the Mustangs and Battlefords North Stars. This rematch saw the North Stars take a 5-4 win in a shootout.

In the first period, play went back and forth with neither team taking total control. However, the Mustangs were the ones to strike first when newly minted Captain Tyson Meyers notched his third of the year just three and a half minutes into the game. Battleford responded with Carson Reagan’s second of the year about 11 minutes later. Before any more scoring took place, there were some fireworks, showing that there was no love lost between these foes. Melfort’s Colton Schell laid a check on Elijah Loon-Stewardson in the Mustang zone. That drew a crowd and ultimately led to a five minute powerplay for the Mustangs. On that man advantage, Kenzie Arnold and Zack Smith each scored, giving the Mustangs a two goal cushion heading into the second.

Battlefords brought the deficit back to one goal just three and a half minutes into the second as Kaden Boser scored on the powerplay. About 10 minutes later, on another North Star powerplay, the Mustangs got some offence as Kenzie Arnold finished off a two-on-one with Zach Anderson to make it 4-2. The goal was Arnold’s third point of the night and 16th point overall, good for the team lead. He said lots of credit needs to be given to the guys next to him.

“Obviously my linemates, my linemates have been awesome this year,” Arnold told northeastNOW. “I’m just getting open for them. It’s awesome to contribute but we didn’t get the win tonight so that’s unfortunate.”

Twist on a classic

Regina board game designer puts new spin on crokinole

11h ago

Spring in Saskatchewan

Calm, dry weather expected across much of Saskatchewan over Easter weekend

12h ago

Tribute projects

Progress on Humboldt Broncos memorial continues eight years after tragic crash

12h ago

In the third, the Mustangs did their best to hold onto the lead and grab a win, but with less than three minutes to go in the third, a pair of Mustang turnovers led to Quinton Loon-Stewardson and Rylan Nivon scoring just 16 seconds apart to make it 4-4. Battlefords had a couple chances late, and Melfort had a few shots in the dying minutes as well, but things remained 4-4 for overtime. Arnold said they may have just been a bit too complacent and thought they had won the game before the buzzer went.

“We got to play a full sixty minutes,” he said. “And we got to play especially defence, can’t just focus on the offence. So, no we slacked there in the last couple minutes and let that slip and that’s unacceptable.”

In the extra frame the teams went back and forth with a few good chances on either side, but nothing was solved in three-on-three, which meant a shootout was in order. Marco Lopez, Zack Smith, and Kenzie Arnold all did not score for Melfort. Matthew Fletcher and Matthias Urbanski missed for Battlefords, while Rylan Nivon played hero on the final shot to give Battlefords the 5-4 win.

Melfort falls to 7-2-3-0 on the season and are back in action on Friday, Oct. 11 as the Kindersley Klippers are in town.

–

mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6