The Melfort Mustangs saw their season come to an end after a 5-2 loss in Game 4 of their best of five Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Wild Card playoff series on home ice.
The Mustangs lost the series March 14 three games to one.
“It came down to some pretty easy goals against but we competed, said Trevor Blevins, the Mustangs’ head coach. “It was just a matter of a bounce here or there and resulted in a goal against.”
The game got off to a terrible start for the Mustangs as they gave up two first period goals to trail 2-0 after the first.
The second period did not go much better for the Mustangs as they gave up three more goals, after an early goal by Miles Warkentine,to trail 5-1 after two.
“You just never know. Teams have scored four goals in a period before. It can be done,” was Blevins’ message to his team heading into the third period.
Despite the large hole, the Mustangs refused to quit as they outshot the Hounds 9-4 in the period but could only manage a single goal off the stick of Carson Albrecht.
That has been their year, said Blevins. His team has never quit and that can be said of their last third period.
“We’ve gone through periods of ups and downs but I don’t think anyone’s ever quit in a situation and I knew we wouldn’t. We did play hard in that third,” said Blevins.
“I thought we did okay even generating pressure trying to climb up the scoresheet but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Despite the loss, Blevins was really pleased with how his team continued to fight to the bitter end, but said a lot of credit had to go to Notre Dame.
“They played us hard, their goaltending was great and they were really strong defensively. They took advantage when they could on the power play. I think that was a huge key and difference in the series.”
The Mustangs now turn their attention to the summer, where they will look to improve for next season, with most of the team eligible to remain intact.
