Major Midgets lose — for a change
PORT HOOD: The Halifax McDonalds, sitting sixth place in the eight-team provincial Major Midget league, were in Port Hood last weekend to test the best in the league.
In an upset, the McDonalds handed the 17-2 Cape Breton West Islanders their first loss against a Nova Scotia Major Midget team. The Islanders have two losses on the season. Their first defeat was against the Moncton Flyers in an interlocking-league game.
The Halifax win came on Sunday due to a power play goal with 21 seconds left in the third period. The Islanders had a power play goal of their own in the first period, as Logan Chisholm dented the mesh unassisted.
That wasn’t enough to come up with the win, as Ewan MacDonald faced 27 shots while backstopping the local guys to a 2-1 loss.
On Saturday, MacDonald was in net once again and faced 22 shots in an 8-5 win.
Leading Islander scoring were Craig Ryan, a goal and two assists; Jacob Hudson, two goals; Chisholm, Ryan MacLellan, and Jacob Stewart, all with a goal and assist; Fearghus MacDonald, Matthew MacNeil, Logan Timmons, and Jack Morris, all with a pair of assists; Spencer Barron and Malcolm MacEachern, both with a goal; and Calum MacPherson and Stephen Fox, both with an assist.
Though taking a loss, the Islanders have an eight-point lead (and two games in hand) over the second place Cole Harbour Wolfpack.
The next bit of league action for the Islanders will be on the weekend of November 26, as they take on New Brunswick teams, the Saint John Vitos and the Fredericton Canadians.
Rough weekend for Pirates
PORT HAWKESBURY: A short bench didn’t play to the maroon and white’s favour last weekend as the Pirates were unable to drop the Sackville Blazers last Friday night or find success in Cole Harbour on Saturday.
The final was 7-3 on Friday and 11-0 on Saturday.
The Friday game saw the Strait assume two leads over the Blazers, both in the first period, then tie the game early in the third.
Specifically, the Pirates had Morgan Timmons (from Axel Poirier and Randon MacKinnon) and Max Morrison (from MacKinnon and Nathan Hayes) score in the first frame.
That led to a 2-1 Pirate lead that was overturned in the second due to a pair of Sackville goals. Also in the second, Cody Hinkley and Blazer Stephen Oliver scrapped.
MacKinnon (from Peter Drohan) had the Strait’s third goal of the night, connecting at 2:05 of the third, tying the game at 3-3. After that, the Blazers used four goals in the final 10 minutes to flesh out the win.
In net for the Strait was Matthew Stymest, and he faced 39 shots.
On Friday, the Pirates had only 15 skaters. That number dropped even further on Saturday, as the Pirate bus headed to Cole Harbour with only 13 skaters.
Cole Harbour came out hard in the first frame, levelling 27 shots on net. At the end of the game, the Colts outshot the Pirates 47-21.
Stymest and Mike O’Reilly shared goaltending duties.
This Friday coming, the Pirates will host the Pictou Scotians at 6 p.m. On Sunday, the guys hit the road to face the Valley Maple Leafs.
SAERC ties with CBHA-NDA
CHETICAMP: Tuesday, November 8, saw the SAERC Saints boys hockey team travel to Cheticamp to play CBHA-NDA hockey team. The game ended in a 6-6 tie.
Scoring for SAERC were Mack Anderson with three goals, while Jordan Bissonnette, Brady White and Jordan MacIsaac had one goal each.
Scoring for CBHA-NDA were Mitch Dilosa and Will Fraser, each with two goals, while Matthew Hinkley and Jakob Deveau each added a goal.