Kristian Coombs was named the player of the game after stopping 29 of 30 that came his way for the victory (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Perfect 4 and 0

Coombs backstops young-gun Mustangs to earn first career playoff win

May 16, 2024 | 7:10 AM

The Melfort Mustangs wrapped up the pool play of this year’s Centennial Cup, picking up a 3-1 win over the host, Oakville Blades.

Melfort deployed a very young and inexperienced lineup, as they were locked into their playoff position, no matter the result.

Despite playing without their top six, in Ryan Duguay, Aidyn Hutchinson, Clay Sleeva, Leith Olafson, Chase Friedt-Mohr, and James Venne, the Mustangs gutted out a well-deserved victory.

“Tonight we sat our top guys and we said let’s go get a team win here. It was a good effort all around, good for [Kristian] Coombs to get his first start in a long time, and the boys all played for him, which was awesome to see,” explained assistant coach, Tye Scherger.

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“Coombs is such a character guy with a lot of heart, he played very minimum games this year but he was always ready and was always putting in the extra work. His extra work also helps the other guys in practice, so we know when it’s time to call his name, he’s happy and the boys are happy for him.”

The 2005-born netminder stopped 29 of 30 that came his way, which earned him player of the game honours.

Affiliate players Tao Flory, Jaxon Kehrig, and Dylan Twidale also cracked the lineup, while rookies Brayden Westerlund, Nolan Patterson, Austin Shepherd, Bo Eisner, and Kaleb Binner got more touches than ever.

Binner also picked up his first career playoff goal, while Logan Belton added a pair.

“Our depth is absolutely unreal, from top to bottom to APs, we got a bunch of great guys with strong work ethics who play with heart and that’s awesome,” Scherger added.

“Finishing off the prelims with a 4 and 0 record is awesome, every team here was a champion, so we’re super proud of the guys. Now it gets harder every single day and thankfully we clinched a semi-berth, so we have one less game to play. We’ll have to be ready and play hard in that one if we want to keep going.”

The Blue and Green will have two days off, as they await the results of the quarter-finals on Friday, to determine their semi-final opponent.

The Stangs will play at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, as the Collingwood Blues have chosen the earlier match that day, as was their right after clinching the top spot overall in the round robin.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8