TRURO, N.S. – What a game – last Saturday night’s Game 2 of the Truro Bearcats-Yarmouth Mariners Maritime Hockey League playoff series. From late in the second period, when Bearcats defenceman Lauchie MacDonald scored to tie the game 1-1, until the final seconds of the third period – the two teams battled fiercely from end to end.
A real cliff-hanger, there were approximately 1,300 fans in attendance and no one was leaving.
Of course, the Mariners Logan Timmons ruined the party for Truro supporters, scoring with 15 seconds showing on the clock to give his club a 2-1 win and putting them up two games in the series.
In revisiting the game, give the Bearcats high marks; Myles Hektor made miraculous saves in goal and every member of the offense and defense likewise rose to the occasion. And, in the battle, a particular Bearcats rookie really stepped up. Forward Carson Lanceleve played like a veteran, he was ‘a real leader.’
Lanceleve handled the puck with authority, he made those patented, tricky moves he does so well and he was a scoring threat every shift. Before Monday’s Bearcats practice, in preparing for Game 3 of the series (to be played in Yarmouth Tuesday night) we talked with Lanceleve.
“I thought we played well Saturday night,” Lanceleve, 18, of Stewiacke, said. “Our guys played a full 60 minutes, it’s a game that could have gone either way.”
Lanceleve feels the team has brought their game up to a higher level.
“We can’t lose the fact that Yarmouth is a strong hockey club, it’s almost like playing a minute at a time against them. Take one shift at a time, we can’t look any further. We have to keep our composure. As a team we can’t let ourselves get down. The team spirit is real good – we’re just focusing on what we have to do. We realize it has to be a battle all the way.”
Game 4 in the best-of-seven Eastlink South Division playoff series takes place tonight (Thursday) at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. Opening faceoff will be at 7 p.m.
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The division C level peewee hockey tournament to decide the Fundy Region league winner was played at the sportsplex in Brookfield recently.
Eight teams and 130 players competed in the well-run event. The championship game, played before a large crowd, saw Truro Black Bearcats defeat South Colchester 5-2 to capture the championship.
The tournament win was the second in recent weeks for Truro, which went 5-0 in winning the Noah Llewellyn Hockey Tournament in Bedford.
Truro Black played last weekend in the Truro Friendship Hockey Tournament at the RECC. In round-robin play Saturday, the Truro Black squad improved
their record to 3-0 by edging Acadia Raiders (of Canning) 3-2 on a late third-period goal by Roman Brooks. Truro was defeated by Acadia in playoff semifinal action. The Valley team lost in the final to Oromocto Stingrays.
Truro Black is an exceptional group of young hockey players who appear to be having a lot of fun. Keeping busy, they’ve played 40 games, compiling an impressive record of 36 wins, two losses and two ties.
“We’ve had a phenomenal year,” said outstanding playmaker Isaiah LeBlanc, 11, of Bible Hill. “Everyone gets along well on our team, we have great team spirit. Things I really like about hockey, I like a good team effort and I like making new friends through hockey.”
Defenceman Liam Kean moved to Upper Onslow at age four, after living in the Kingdom of Bhutan (the Himalayas).
“I decided to try hockey after watching Tampa Bay Lightning play Montreal Canadians on television,” Kean, 12, said. “This is my fourth year playing organized hockey; I’m finding it a lot of fun. This is the best season I have had, our team is made up of nice friends, there’s no negativity. We lift each other up.”
Steve Paris is the coach of Truro Black. His assistant coaches are Joe Young and Chris MacKinnon. The manager is Vanessa Totten.
Paris, a first-year coach, has an exceptional outlook. He shared that the team’s goal has been to teach players to respect others, to always practice being courteous and polite.
Goaltender Adam Maynard, outstanding left-winger Kaiden Totten, big sniper Jacob Stinson, Isaiah McGee, Ewan MacKinnon and teammates are definitely an exceptional team.
Lyle Carter’s sports column appears weekly in the Truro News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.
