(Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW Staff)
Lucky Number 13

Mustangs barely squeak by Hounds despite massive shot advantage

Dec 18, 2024 | 10:10 AM

The Melfort Mustangs snuck by the Notre Dame Hounds Tuesday night, beating them by a score of 2-1 for the second time this season.

Despite the fact that Melfort outshot Notre Dame 41-19, the Mustangs didn’t score the game-winning goal until there were just 56 seconds left in the game.

That goal came from a Zac Somers blast from the point, on the powerplay, to give the Stangs their 13th win in a row.

“A lot of shots is nice, but not when you don’t have traffic. When a goalie can see all those shots, he’s got a good chance of saving them all, but good that we found a way to get it done,” said assistant coach Tye Scherger.

“It’s hard playing the first one here, it’s a big sheet of ice and it’s hard to get the guys used to it. Notre Dame plays well in their rink, so that’s awesome to get it done.”

In the Blue and Green’s defence, they hit a lot of posts on the night, and hardly gave up any shots on their own net, as just seven came their way in the first and second periods, before shutting it down even more in the third, allowing just five.

That coupled with the fact that they were missing three of their best six defencemen really showcased the depth and grit of this year’s group.

“I thought it was pretty good, we had that next man up mentality when we got three veteran D out of the lineup. A couple of times we lost and didn’t pick up their men, but overall we did pretty well. Now we just keep building day by day,” Scherger added.

Melfort now has just two games remaining in 2024, both of which will come against the Nipawin Hawks.

The Mustangs will travel to Nipawin on Friday, before hosting the Hawks on Saturday to conclude the first half of the season, prior to the Christmas break.

“We have that rivalry with them, so they’re not just going to fall over, they’re going to push hard. These are two big games before the break and we got to stay motivated and focused because anyone can beat anyone in this league. The biggest thing is to stay focused for 60 minutes a night and then we’ll go from there,” concluded Scherger.

Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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