The SJHL Canalta Cup champion Melfort Mustangs’ season came to a close at the hands of the MJHL Turnbull Cup winning Portage Terriers for a second straight year at Affinity Place on Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers beat the Mustangs 3-2 in double overtime despite being outshot and for the most part outplayed in the game. The Melfort loss marked their sixth straight to Portage over the past two Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cups (WCC) and last year’s RBC Cup where the host Terriers eliminated them in the semifinals.
“They’re a very good team,” said Mustangs captain Tristan Frei. “Well coached, big size, can skate, put pucks on net (and) they always stay disciplined. They had our number for the last couple years.”
The Mustangs came out flying hemming the Terriers in their own zone early on. Travis Mayan had the Mustangs’ first good chance to get on the scoreboard six and a half minutes in on a breakaway only to be stoned by Terriers goaltender Nathan Park with a pad save on a shot from the slot.
Less than 20 seconds later, Miles Warkentine had a glorious chance on a one-timer from the hash marks only to have Park jump past the top of the crease to make the stop. Warkentine got that one back with 3:57 left in the first period on the power play when his shot from the same spot squeezed through Park’s body and arm and trickled into the net.
Terriers captain Brad Bowles didn’t wait long to even up the score by whacking in a rebound at the side of the net off a spectacular glove save by Mustangs goalie Richard Palmer that saw him shoot out the trapper to stop Bowles in close on a one-timer off a centering pass by Nick Henry.
Mustangs right wing Justin Boyer notched their go-ahead goal 5:08 into the second period by stuffing a pass from the corner by Mayan low glove side. In a tight-checking period that saw the Terriers outshoot the Mustangs 8-5, the biggest blow to Portage came when core forward Shawn Bowles headed to the dressing room after colliding heavily with the end boards on a missed forecheck early in the frame.
“He got a little bit of a stinger,” said Terriers head coach and general manager Blake Spiller, whose team earned a berth in the second RBC Cup qualifying game with the win. “He missed a guy on the PK and ran into the boards and had a little bit of a stinger, so our trainer took him into the room and he didn’t finish that period. But he was fine going into the third period, which was obviously huge for us because we definitely need those guys in our lineup.”
The Terriers pushed the play in the early goings of the third period culminating with a power-play goal by Chase Brakel 6:06 in when he picked up the puck at the side of the crease on a rebound off a Cody Haiskanen point shot and deposited it low stick side on Palmer. The Terriers’ side of the crowd erupted a little over 10 minutes into the third when it appeared Shawn Bowles put the team ahead 3-2 on a backhand from in close that looked like it went top corner glove side.
“It was hard for me to tell just because I was on the other end and Palmer was in the way there,” said Park. Terriers forward Adam “Wowryk was pretty set on it being in. He was getting the refs to try and do a coach’s challenge. I don’t know. Shawn wasn’t really sure, so it was hard for me to say for sure if it was in or not. Obviously they didn’t see it go in. It probably would have stung a little more had we not come out on top there, but it is what it is. We found a way to win at the end of the day, so that’s really what matters.”
After a strong first overtime period by the Mustangs where their best chance came on a Carter Hansen tip off a Kirk Bear point shot that just trickled wide, the Terriers capitalized on the best opportunity to score in the second sudden-death period. On the play, Brad Bowles shot the puck from the top of the faceoff circle with Henry deflecting it from the side of the crease top corner blocker side.
“We left it all on the ice today,” said Mustangs head coach and general manager Trevor Blevins. “We faced two other elimination games this year, one in the tournament, a Game 7 against Nipawin and we responded well just like we did today. I really thought we played a very good hockey game for the most part and we did what we had to do. It just didn’t come our way.”
