TRURO, N.S. – The Truro Bearcats of the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League enjoyed another successful weekend, winning a pair of games against Dartmouth and ACCEL Physio.
On Sunday, the Bearcats rallied from a two-goal deficit to edge ACCEL 3-2 in overtime.
Matthew Hunter scored the winning goal with just eight seconds remaining in the extra frame. After Brandon Abbass netted two first-period goals for the visitors, Merle Putnam put the Bearcats on the board with 5:37 left in the second, and Sam Archibald tied the game early in the third.
Bearcats goaltender Ben Estell made 21 saves for the win.
On Saturday, the Bearcats jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead and never looked back in a 5-2 triumph over the Whalers.
After Owen Mullen and Riley MacKinnon scored in the first, Jacob Melanson gave Truro a 3-0 cushion with a shorthanded goal at 8:24 of the second. Dartmouth’s Samuel LeBlanc scored late in the second and early in the third to make it a one-goal game, however, Putnam netted a shorthanded tally near the four-minute mark and Phillip Ballard added insurance almost four minutes later for the final score.
Truro goaltender Oliver Arnfast had an easy night between the pipes and faced just eight shots.
The Bearcats (26-2-0-3) are tied for first place with The Gulls (27-2-0-1) in the 12-team league. They return to action this weekend when they host a pair of games at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre. On Saturday, the Bedford Barons visit for a 4 p.m. start, while on Sunday the Western Hurricanes blow into town for a 1 p.m. puck drop.
