M’CHIGEENG—The Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) Mustangs girls’ hockey team won the opening game of their semi-final playoff series on Tuesday.
“The girls played really, really well,” stated MSS coach Mike Meeker of the Mustangs 5-3 win against Espanola. “We have been working really hard on our power play all year and tonight we scored four goals with the man advantage; we were moving the puck around real well and scored some really nice goals.”
Coach Meeker said the Mustangs totally dominated the first two periods of the game, “but they (Espanola) have a really good goalie and they kept coming at us.”
MSS jumped to a 2-0 lead with Espanola notching a marker to pull to within one goal and the teams then traded goals. The Mustangs grabbed another two goal lead at 4-2 but Espanola scored again to make it close. “It was dicey toward the end of the game until we scored an empty net goal,” said Mr. Meeker.
“I was really happy with the way we played,” said Coach Meeker, pointing out Espanola, a sixth seed heading into the playoffs, had to defeat Confederation in a one-game playoff to make it to the semi-finals.
“If we win our game Thursday in Espanola, we will move to the championship final,” said Coach Meeker. “I have told the girls our school has never won a hockey championship at any level and I think it would be really worthwhile working for; the girls seem to have responded to that.”
Mustangs boys knocked out of playoffs
The Mustangs boys’ team was ousted from the playoffs, dropping a third and final game against St. Charles on Tuesday by a score of 7-3.
The Mustangs had won game two of the series last Friday in Little Current, beating St. Charles by a score of 4-2. In that game Justice Corbiere notched a hat-trick three goals and MSS goalie Jordan Cristos played fantastic.
The Mustangs are assured of a spot in the Northern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (NOSSAA) playdowns.
