Neepawa Natives split pair of games

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Published on Thursday, January 25, 2018

Photo by Martin Warner
Neepawa goaltender Spencer Eschyschyn makes a save, during the Natives game against the Steinbach Pistons on Saturday, Jan. 20 at the Yellowhead Centre.

Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner & Press

A pair of games over the weekend resulted in a pair of points in the standings for the Neepawa Natives. The MJHL club picked up a 6-3 win in Dauphin versus the Kings on Friday, Jan. 19. The Natives couldn’t keep the momentum going, however, the next night as they were dominated by the Steinbach Pistons on the way to a 7-1 loss. In the victory over Dauphin, Jordan Martin scored a pair of goals, while Brett Namaka, Mackenzie Belinski, Justin Metcalf and Ashton Anderson all added singles.

Goaltender Brendan Benoit, who recently arrived to Neepawa, via a trade with Portage, earned his first win in Natives colours, with a 43 save performance. The following night, the Natives returned home to the Yellowhead Centre to face the league’s top team, the Steinbach Pistons.  In this game, the Pistons simply crushed the Natives, in a truly impressive manner.  Over the course of 60 minutes, Steinbach outshot Neepawa by a whopping 60-21 margin, including an amazing 27-4 in the second period. Easton Bennett lead for the Pistons with two goals and an assist, while Austin Heidemann, Bradley Schoonbaert, Tristan Culleton, Daniel McKitrick and Riese Gaber all added individual goals to seal the win. Matthew Thiessen got the win in net for the first place Pistons. Zak Smith tallied the only goal of the night for Neepawa early in the first period.