Reilley Kotai mobbed by his Mustang teammates after his second goal of the game wins it more Melfort in overtime (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Weekend Split

Mustangs hand Millionaires first loss of season

Oct 6, 2024 | 3:22 PM

The Melfort Mustangs handed the previously undefeated Melville Millionaires their first loss of the season Saturday night.

Melfort lost their first game of the season the night prior, courtesy of Melville, so for the Mustangs it was sweet sweet revenge on Saturday.

“It feels good, especially after losing Friday night at home with that effort in front of our fans, it wasn’t good. We were upset, so coming here we were filled up and ready to go and are glad to give them their first loss,” said assistant coach Tye Scherger.

“Character and heart in that dressing right now, especially tonight, we wanted to see where their heart was at and how they were going to respond after our first loss of the year. They came out with the full 60 effort.”

It was a back-and-forth affair as Melfort scored the first goal of the game for just the second time this season.

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Reilley Kotai scored just 41 seconds into the game before the Millionaires tied it heading into the 1st intermission.

Melville then scored twice in the second, while the Mustangs scored just once, as it was 3-2 after two.

The Stangs were able to tie the game in the final period, thanks to captain Ty Thornton’s second in as many nights.

The Blue and Green then went on the man advantage in overtime, as Reilley Kotai’s second of the game won it in the extra frame.

“On Friday we weren’t hard on the battles in the D zone, all over the ice, we weren’t hard. Our goal was to be hard this game and win every single battle over three zones for a full 60, and we were the harder team,” Scherger added.

“That Melville group always works hard over there and they frustrate you in the offensive zone because they overload. The biggest thing for us was to get the puck moving down low and we did that way better and then capitalized on our opportunities.”

Both clubs are now 5 and 1 through the first three weekends of the season, following the weekend split.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8