(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Absolute Blowout

Mustangs embarrass Hounds on KidSport night

Sep 30, 2023 | 1:39 PM

For the second home game in a row, the Melfort Mustangs got tired of their own goal song as they buried eight by the visiting team.

The undefeated Stangs absolutely embarrassed the pointless (0 and 3) Notre Dame Hounds in an 8-1 blowout victory.

The Blue and Green were up 3-0 after the first 20 minutes of action, thanks to a goal and two assists from Ryan Duguay, and never really looked back.

“It’s important to get good starts against these guys, come on strong and then keep it going into the second and third,” said Duguay. “They just couldn’t really keep up with us.”

Friday night marked the kickoff of the tenth year of Goals for KidSport for the SJHL, where SaskEnergy donates $20 for every home goal scored to local KidSport chapters.

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Melfort Mustangs scratches ahead of Friday night’s game against the Notre Dame Hounds (photo courtesy/Jesiah Pask)

For the Mustangs, they’ve now already scored 16 goals at home, which is equal to $320 for Melfort KidSport, through just two contests at the Palace.

“It’s awesome,” Duguay added. “Putting the puck in the net, that’s always fun, so we try to do as much as we can and it’s for a good cause, so it makes it even more special.”

The game against the Hounds also marked the first of a four-game homestand for the Mustangs, as they’re now set to host Kindersley Klippers.

Melfort will look to continue their winning ways, adding to their perfect 3-0 record, in front of their loyal fans.

“It’s always fun playing in our barn, we love it, and we get a lot of energy from our fans, so we just want to keep it going,” Duguay told northeastNOW. “Everyone wants to beat the best, I think we’re at the top right now, but we just can’t let it get in our heads, we gotta keep playing hard every night and we should be fine.”

Two members of the team also got their first-ever SJHL goals, in Nolan Patterson and Kaleb Binner.

Those accomplishments came on a night where the club put up 55 shots on Johann Tremblay-Kau.

“It’s super exciting for those guys, they don’t get as many looks as some of our older guys but they earned it, they’ve worked hard and I’m proud of them,” explained Duguay. “I thought our forecheck was really good today, we were all over there d causing turnovers so it was good. We kept it in their zone, got pucks to the net and goals go in that way.”

James Venne made 27 saves on 28 shots in the game, earning his third victory of the season.

A few of those stops included a couple of breakaway chances in the first period, among others, as he kept the group up early.

“It’s always good when you can trust your goalie, I could trust my life with that kid,” Duguay mentioned. “He’s a great goalie and I’m really excited for his year because I think he’s gonna be amazing.”

The organization will be selling a limited quantity of customized orange shirts in honour of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation for Saturday night’s contest. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8