NORTH BAY—It may have taken three years, but the Manitoulin Secondary School Mustangs boys’ hockey team came back to the Island victorious this weekend after finally winning the Nipissing District Athletics Inc. Boys’ High School Hockey Tournament title.
Mustangs coach Brad Bond explained that the Mustangs have been coming to this tournament for a number of years and have made it to the championship round for the last three years, this year finally clinching it on a game against arch rivals the St. Charles Cardinals.
Mr. Bond told The Expositor that the North Bay tournament is a tough one to win and provides a great challenge for his team. This year, however, Manitoulin proved the force to be reckoned with.
The Mustangs saw their first match against North Bay’s Chippewa Secondary School on Thursday morning, winning 5 to 3. They next saw a match up against Scollard Hall that night, winning again with a score of 5 to 3.
On Friday, the Mustangs faced off against Widdifield Secondary School, winning the game with a score of 3 to 1. That evening, the Mustangs were matched up against Ecole Secondaire Catholique Algonquin and won handily 6 and 0.
This put the Mustangs into the semi-finals, again against Widdifield where they stabled the team 4 to 2.
Manitoulin again found themselves squaring off against league rivals St. Charles in the championship game on Saturday with plenty of Island support in the audience in the form of the Mustangs basketball team, parents and ex pats.
“We had a good start, but a couple of power play goals saw St. Charles up 4-2 in the second,” explained Mr. Bond. “We scored one late in the second to make it 4-3. We just kept coming at them, stayed disciplined and tied it up with six minutes left in the third period.”
Mustang Jacob Moreau really took one for the team, breaking his wrist in the second period and also sporting a foot cast thanks to a blocked shot in the semi-final game.
With four-and-a-half minutes left, the Mustangs scored again to tie the game. St. Charles came on strong, but the Mustangs used everything they had to keep them at bay, scoring an empty net goal on the Cards with 54 seconds left in the game, bringing the championship final to 6-4, Mustangs. Justice Corbiere was named the tournament’s MVP.
The Mustangs play in Little Current this Friday night, December 11 at 7 pm, against Lockerby, the first time the two teams have seen one another since the game that saw wild crowds and shattered windows last January. The Mustangs are still undefeated in league play this year.
The final home game of the year for the Mustangs takes place next Wednesday, December 16 at 3:30 pm in Little Current against St. Charles, who will undoubtedly be looking for redemption.
