Wiinipeg - Four quick goals in the first period spelled disaster for the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns men’s hockey team as they laced up their skates to take on the University of Manitoba Bisons on Friday, November 11 at the Max Bell Centre. The Bisons came away with a 5-2 victory after the Pronghorns fell behind early and were never able to make up the deficit.
Boxscore
Manitoba’s goals were scored by Blair Macaulay, Chris Benias, Mike Hellyer, Brendan Rowinski, and Myles Rumsey. The Bisons started Jesse Deckert in net, who made a total of 23 saves in his winning effort.
The Pronghorns’ goals were netted by Curtis Cooper, and Winston Day Chief. Goaltender Scott Bowles let in four goals on 11 shots before being pulled and replaced by Dylan Miller-Tait, who stopped a total of 25 shots on the evening.
“It was nice to get the win and two valuable points and get back on the winning track,” said Bisons head coach Mike Sirant. “This was only our third home game, and we need to take advantage of playing on home ice.”
“The big difference tonight was our start. We expressed to our players yesterday that we needed to come mentally ready to have a great start tonight and it was clear that they came mentally ready to compete.”
The first period couldn’t have jumped to a much better start for the Bisons. Only 55 seconds in, the Pronghorns’ Taylor Gal sat for two on a slashing call, allowing Manitoba’s Jeremy Schappert to feed a quick pass to Blair Macaulay in front of the net for an easy tip in, and the 1-0 lead.
Less than 20 seconds later, the Bisons’ Chris Benias found a juicy rebound square on his stick, and smacked it home to put Manitoba up 2-0.
Two minutes elapsed and then it was Manitoba captain Mike Hellyer’s turn to find the back of the net, after receiving a slick pass in front of the net from Matt Lowry, and it’s 3-0 Bisons.
Twenty-three seconds after that, a scrum in front of Lethbridge’s goaltender Scott Bowles saw Brendan Rowinski stuff it into the cage, and the Bisons had four goals in the first five and a half minutes of the game, making Pronghorns head coach Greg Gatto red in the face behind the bench.
After the atrocious start by Lethbridge, Gatto would be forced to bench Bowles and put Dylan Miller-Tait in the cage for the remainder of the game.
The action slowed down after the initial burst by the Bisons, and the Pronghorns’ first goal would be scored by Curtis Cooper on a point shot, cutting Manitoba’s lead to 4-1.
Before the period was through, Lethbridge’s Winston Day Chief would steal the puck in Bison territory and deposit the biscuit in close on Jesse Deckert, allowing the Pronghorns to head to the dressing room down only 4-2.
The second period belonged to the net minders, as neither side found the back of the net in 20 minutes of play. Despite taking three penalties, the only calls in the period, the Bisons remained on top with a 4-2 lead heading into the third. Shots in the second period were 10-9 for the Pronghorns.
It looked like the third period might mimic the second as it took over 12 minutes for a goal to go up on the board. The Bisons’ Myles Rumsey ended up jamming the puck into the net in a big scrum, after it was brought in close courtesy of some nice moves by Mike Hellyer, putting Manitoba up 5-2 with a little over five minutes to go in the game.
Five goals would be enough to secure the victory, as the game would finish at a score of 5-2 Manitoba.
The Manitoba Bisons play next on Saturday, November 12 in a rematch against the Lethbridge Pronghorns. Game time is 7 p.m. CT at the Max Bell Centre on the University of Manitoba campus.
