TRURO - The Truro Bearcats made it clear for their fans how they've gotten off to a perfect start to this Maritime Junior Hockey League campaign.
The Bearcats (5-0-0-0) picked apart the Campbellton Tigers (0-6-0-0) in every aspect of the game on their way to an 8-0 victory in their Maritime Junior Hockey League home opener Saturday in front of 607 at Colchester Legion Stadium.
Until Saturday, Bearcats fans had only heard about their team's exploits on the road in their first four games of the calendar. They were eager to see their squad in action for themselves and the Bearcats were happy to oblige.
"Being 4-0 on the road and not having any games at home, we really wanted to keep it going and win our first one in front of our fans at home," said forward Colby Lanceleve, a Stewiacke resident who led the assault with a hat trick. "So it was a good way to start the season at home."
The Bearcats are second in the Bent Division just two points behind the Yarmouth Mariners (6-1-0-0). Truro hasn't gotten off to a 5-0 start since 2009-10, when it went eight games before its first loss. Truro went on to finish second overall at 37-7-3-3.
"We're pretty happy," Lanceleve said. "It's nice to be undefeated but it's still early and we need to keep playing and getting better because there's always room for improvement."
Shayne Campbell backstopped the Hubtowners with 26 saves Saturday while Miguel Sullivan also stopped 26 to be tagged with the loss.
"We just played 60 minutes," 17-year-old Lanceleve said. "We outworked them and never let up."
Kyle Morrison got the party started by scoring at 10:47 of the opening frame before Jordan Coccimiglio made it 2-0 a minute-and-a-half later.
Then the Truro offence kicked into high gear as Travis Fernley (shorthanded 1:19), Lanceleve (8:31), Travis Moore (12:43) and Coccimiglio (13:44) stretched the lead to 6-0 by the second intermission. Lanceleve completed his feat with a pair of goals in the third.
"It was really nice to score my first couple goals of the season and getting them at home was even better," he said.
Brandon Pye recorded three assists while Truro's Jeff Hanes and Jordan Cox each added two.
The Bearcats have gotten out of the gate much better than they have for the past two campaigns, when early-season struggles carried over into the rest of the schedule. Getting off to a solid start is not only refreshing, but a huge confidence-booster Lanceleve said.
"Especially now when guys are getting used to each other," he said. "It lets us build some chemistry and lets everyone start to click."
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