HEAD OF ST. MARGARETS BAY, N.S. — The Central Attack controls its own destiny heading into its final preliminary round game at the Atlantic major bantam hockey championship.
The Attack can book a spot in Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. final with a win in Saturday’s 9 a.m. game with the St. John’s Hitmen.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” head coach Jeff Squires said Friday evening.
He said the team has approached the five-team tournament in St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., by breaking it down into smaller chunks. Squires was pleased to be able to say they had won all but two periods during its first three games.
The Attack dropped its opening game 4-2 Thursday to the Halifax-based Accel Physio before responding with a 4-3 win against the host Gulls squad in Thursday’s final game of the night.
They kept the ball rolling Friday by handing the Dieppe Flyers their first loss of the tournament. It gives the P.E.I. champs a shot to be in Sunday’s title game – a goal from the start of the season.
“It’s a great compliment to our hockey team and the resolve they have shown,” Squires said.
The Attack lived up to its name on Friday, defeating the Flyers 8-2.
“The story today was the power play,” Squires said, noting the squad was 7-for-9 with the man advantage.
Colby Huggan had two goals and two assists to lead the way while Landon MacDonald and Will Morrison each had two goals and an assist. Cam Squires had a goal and two helpers while Kal White helped set up three goals.
Isaac Vos had a goal and an assist while Tyler Worth had two assists and singles went to Daimyan Boyle, Luke Coughlin and Chris Koughan.
The Attack built a 3-0 lead in the first period.
Dieppe’s Samual Savoie stepped out of the penalty box and broke in and beat Shannon MacDonald to cut the lead to two. A turnover behind the Attack net led to Cedric Boudreau’s goal and the lead was one.
MacDonald, a 14-year-old making his first start of the tournament, made a couple key stops to keep the Attack in front.
“He held the forth with just great composure and it allowed us to get our feet back underneath us,” the bench boss said.
Morrison, with his second of the game, restored the two-goal lead that Central took into the second intermission. A few penalties late in the second and early in the third provided the Attack with some chances and they cashed in to extend the lead and cruise to victory.
“We stayed disciplined and kept the foot on the gas pedal,” Squires said.
MacDonald made 20 stops for the victory.
Central and Dieppe are each 2-1 while The Gulls and Accel is 1-1. St. John’s is 0-2 after Friday afternoon’s action.