Neepawa Farmers off to a hot start

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Published on Thursday, November 8, 2018

A goal by Kyle McDonald (18) in overtime secured the won for the Neepawa Farmers over the Minnedosa Bombers on Sunday, Nov. 4.

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner & Press

It’s been a tremendous start to the Tiger Hills Hockey League (THHL) regular season for the Neepawa Farmers. The club has won its first three games of the year, including a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over the Minnedosa Bombers, at the Farmers’ home opener on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Minnedosa would take control early in the game, scoring the lone goal in the first period off the blade of Ryan Heino. Then early in the second, Matt Saler put away his third goal of the season to make it 2-0. 

A few minutes later, the Farmers bounced back with a pair of goals from Ward Szucki in quick succession. He scored twice within a 35-second span at the mid-point of the period with linemates Matt Lowry and Shayne Wiebe assisting on both. 

In the third period, a fight between Lowry and Minnedosa’s Wyatt Rapsky sidelined both players for the rest of the game with fighting majors and a game misconducts. Minnedosa would then retake the lead with just over ten minutes left in regulation, with Derek Cameron jumping on a rebound opportunity. 

A late-game penalty to Minnedosa provided a man advantage to Neepawa in the final minute of the third period. With the goaltender pulled for another extra attacker, Szucki would tie the game by snapping a shot into the back of the Bombers’ net with just 42 left in the game. That was his third goal of the night. 

For the three-on-three session, it ended early, as Kyle McDonald tallied the winner only 1:16 into overtime. Nolan Speiss and Reigan Buchanan assisted on the game-winner. The victory improved Neepawa’s record to 3-0-0 on the year, while Minnedosa now stands at 1-2-1, having claimed an 8-4 win over MacGregor the previous night for their home opener.

Gladstone begin title defense

Elsewhere around the league, the defending THHL champs, the Gladstone Lakers opened up their schedule on Friday, Nov. 2 with an impressive 10-5 win over Cartwright. Jesse Toth (2 goals - 4 assists) and Sean Kubas (0G-5A) lead the way for the Lakers points-wise, though Tyler Morwick was close behind on the stat-sheet with three goals and one assist. 

Ward Szucki (14) celebrates scoring the tying goal with less than a minute left in the third period. That was Szucki's third goal of the night.