M’CHIGEENG—Even when a very good team is enjoying an excellent season they will face some type of adversity during the campaign and thereby discover just how much grit and determination they might or might not have. This appears to have been the case for the Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) Mustangs girls’ hockey team in a game they played last Thursday against Espanola High School during a game played in M’Chigeeng.
“It was a really good game,” said Mustangs Coach Mike Meeker, “but the score was close and I was giving the girls a hard time throughout saying ‘you’re giving me a lot more gray hair’,” he quipped.
The Mustangs squeaked by in the game 1-0. “We controlled the game and outshot Espanola by a wide margin; their goalie was fantastic,” said Mr. Meeker.
“Sophie (Bondi), our goalie, also played a really good game. She didn’t have a lot of shots, but they (Espanola) had several good chances, especially when there was no score, and Sophie played really well,” said Mr. Meeker.
Scoring the only goal for the Mustangs was, “Maddy Niven on a really nice goal on a pass from behind the net,” continued Mr. Meeker.
The Mustangs followed up their win against Espanola (and a game forfeited to MSS earlier last week) with a road game win this past Tuesday against St. Benedict. MSS scored both its goals in the first period, allowing only a single goal for the game.
MSS now has a perfect 11 wins no loss record on the season.
MSS Boys
The MSS Mustangs boys team split a pair of games over the past week. On Tuesday the Mustangs defeated LaSalle by a score of 6-3 in a game played in Sudbury. MSS was behind 4-3 after two periods, but stormed back in the third period with three goals in the third stanza to win.
Zack Paul led the way for MSS notching a pair of goals with singles going to Jalon Waindubence, Boston Thibault, Noah Hare and Connor Bellmore. Jayden Little had three assists, with single helpers going to Johnny Bushey, Ethan Corbiere, Eric Varey and Boston Thibault.
Unfortunately, the MSS boys’ team dropped a close 6-5 decision to Espanola in a game played in Little Current on Friday, January 11.
The two teams traded goals in the first period, with the Mustangs goal coming off the stick of Eric Varey, assisted by Matthew Redmond.
The Mustangs controlled the second period and lead 4-2 after the second stanza. Lukas Abotossaway scored the first goal of the period for MSS on the power play, with Eric Varey getting the helper, then Ethan Corbiere scored with Johnny Bushey getting the assist. Keegan Clarke scored late in the period, assisted by Ben Marshall and Maverick Bushey.
However, Espanola stormed back in the third period, scoring four goals to the Mustangs lone marker to take the game 6-5. Scoring the lone goal for the Mustangs in the third stanza was Jayden Little.
