Mustangs score four in third period to defeat Rockland

Ottawa Citizen

13-05-2025

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Melfort Mustangs have upped its game at the Centennial Cup, defeating the Rockland Nationals of the Central Canada Hockey League to improve to 2-1 in the tournament. In the process, Melfort has boosted its intimidation factor in a tournament featuring the best junior A teams in the country.
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While the Mustangs ended up beating the Nationals by a convincing 5-2 score, the convincing came late in the game. There was no scoring in the first period, nor an overwhelming number of shots on goal, with Melfort putting the punk on the net eight times compared to five by Rockland.
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But the Nationals scored the games first goal, coming at 12:30 of the second period. Melfort tied the game just over two minutes later with a goal from Will Munro. The Ontario club kept the pressure on the Mustangs goaltender throughout the second, with 13 shots on net compared to Melfort's nine.
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The third period started out as a nail-biter. The game was tied 1-1 until Melfort's Nolan Roberts scored at 5:49. Tristan Ziola made it 3-1 at the 13:00 mark, but any sense of relief was soon snatched away by the Nationals Anthony Hall, who brought his team within one goal at 14:55.
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With about a minute-and-a-half left in the game, and Melfort clinging to a 3-2 lead, Rockland pulled its goalie. But the strategy was not rewarded. Melfort's Brayden Westerlund scored on the empty net at 18:52. Rockland left the net empty until 19:32, when Melfort scored a fourth goal in the period, another empty netter, this one from Ashton Hutchinson.
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The game ended 5-2. Melfort outshot Rockland 27-25. The teams each had three power plays and 10 penalty minutes.
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