The VIU Mariners lead us to victory in a nail-biting match this past Saturday, October 5th, at Nanaimo Ice Centre in our home opener game sponsored by Nanaimo Mitsubishi. Mariners went head-to-head with the Logan Lake Miners and left the 325 fans sitting on the edge of their seats.
The first period started off strong with the Mariners fighting hard in the offensive zone, shooting on goal every open chance they had. They worked as a team to keep the Miners away from their net and focused on staying strong as a team.
In the second period, Miners pushed hard and scored their first two goals within the first five minutes of the period. Mariners forward, #14 Carson Erhardt, came back with the heat scoring Mariners first official goal of the season with an assist from #4 Tyson Lautard and #91 Rocky Bird. Miners then shot three more goals on net, leading their score to be 5-1.
The fans could tell the Mariners were not ready to back down in this intense battle. After a quick goalie change to #33 Wyatt Fournier, Mariners decided then and there that this game would not end as four point loss. #88 Cage Newans set the pace for the rest of the period by scoring the Mariners second goal of the evening with assist from #11 Mathieu Catellier.
The crowd stayed cheering on throughout, believing in our players to deliver a memorable game.
In the third period, Mariners turned around their momentum and looked for those empty pockets in the opposing net. Goal three for the Mariners was scored by Bird and assisted by Erhardt and #18 Davis Sato. Goal four and five came quickly after both scored by Erhardt, assisted by Newans, Bird, and then #10 Ethan Jones on the fifth goal.
The Mariners were not ready to back down and it showed. Jones scored the game winning goal with an assist from #24 Max Struss. They locked in the win 6-5 and Mariners fans have never been prouder to experience such electrifying game. Mariners led the shots on goal 65-16.
Newly appointed Captain, Will Norman, said, “It is a huge honour to be named captain of the Mariners. There have been so many amazing leaders in the past that have paved the way for our program and to even be considered one of them leaves me speechless. I was really proud of the guys and how hard we battled and never gave up against the Miners. Obviously, it was not the start we wanted but we will take the two points and continue to get better each and every day.”
The stars of the game were awarded to Jones and Erhardt. The CUPE 401 VIU Player of the Game was appointed to Erhardt for his tremendous teamwork and efficiency during this match. The team set the tone for the rest of the season and proved that it’ll be one for the books.
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