Advertisement 1

Mustangs earn first win of boys hockey season

Article content

Brantford Collegiate Institute has found the win column in Brant County high school boys hockey.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Starting the season with a tie and a loss, the Mustangs grabbed their first win of the regular season Tuesday at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre, defeating Paris District High School Panthers 3-1.

“We were close both games last week, so getting the win, it does get (the pressure) off your back,” BCI coach Matt Gibbons said.

Article content

“I think we’re figuring out what kind of group we have. Hopefully, it’s upward from here.”

A year after losing to North Park Collegiate in the final, BCI has a different group of players on the ice, most in Grades 9, 10 and 11.

“I think it’s a blank slate for us,” he said. “We’ve graduated seven to junior hockey and a few to school graduations.

“We’re young. We have zero Grade 12s and one fifth-year (player), our captain, Evan Walsh.”

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

Gibbons said the players display a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn.

“They’re attentive and they’re doing everything to listen to the objectives and tactics we’re trying to teach,” he said.

“It’s a long year. We’re hoping to teach quite a bit.”

As for the team’s outlook, Gibbons is optimistic.

“I think our potential is to compete with the league,” he said. “If we keep working and learning, the sky is the limit.”

Right from the opening faceoff Tuesday, the Mustangs applied pressure, controlling the puck in the Panthers’ end. But, despite a barrage of shots, BCI could get nothing past Paris goalie James Hoogstraten until the midway point of the period.

On the power play, the Mustangs moved the puck down low and eventually Kaelin Mifflin and Callum Gracey worked together to put BCI ahead 1-0, with Gracey being awarded the goal and Lucas Cooper also drawing an assist.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

The Panthers picked up their play in the second, tying the score early in the period when Carson Brown fed Will Moore down low. Moore then wristed a shot past BCI goalie Ayden Dorschner to even things at 1-1.

That woke up BCI and, after going back on the attack, the Mustangs took the lead late in the period.

With 2:45 remaining until the third, BCI moved the puck across the blue-line with Alex Thomson taking a shot that rang in off the post and past Hoogstraten for a 2-1 Mustangs advantage.

Walsh got an assist on that goal.

Early in the third period, Paris got a power play and, although they had some nice puck movement, the Panthers couldn’t convert.

With an extra attacker on the ice and only 42.2 seconds remaining in the game, it looked as though Paris tied the score. However, the goal was disallowed when the referee ruled the net had come off.

Advertisement 5
Story continues below
Article content

Walsh then sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 11.9 seconds left.

Paris coach Peter Crosby didn’t believe the net was off.

“It wasn’t off, in my mind,” he said. “I’m watching the whole thing. The guy is in the slot, there’s a bit of a scramble and the puck goes in.”

Paris is now 1-2.

Crosby said his team is looking for some consistency.

“We started the year off against St. John’s and kind of played like that, spotty all over the place,” he said. “Against PJ, we were playing really well as a team.

“You can see the difference when we’re playing within what we want to play and the style of hockey we want to play, that’s a five-man game.

“When they’re able to do that, they’re successful. Today we got away from that.”

Crosby said his team, like the Mustangs, is young.

“It’s going to take time. I understand that.”

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    News Near Tillsonburg
      This Week in Flyers