Neepawa Farmers dominate Pilot Mound Pilots
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- Published on Monday, January 15, 2018
Matt Lowry of the Neepawa Farmers brings the puck into the Pilot Mound zone, in their game at the Yellowhead Centre on Friday, Jan. 12.
By Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner & Press
It could have been very easy for the Neepawa Farmers to overlook their opposition, the Pilot Mound Pilots on Friday, Jan. 12. The reason for it being a potential trap game for Neepawa went well beyond the Pilots鈥� disappointing 2-9-3 record. It would have had more to do with the Farmers鈥� looking ahead to their next home game, against the Tiger Hills Hockey League鈥檚 best team, the Killarney Shamrocks. Fortunately for the Farmers, a four goal night from Garett Rempel helped ensure Neepawa took care of the task at hand, on the way to a 12-5 win.
The game appeared to be in question early, as Pilot Mound put in a solid effort, even scoring the first goal of the night. Jeremy Olinyk knocked in the goal with 8:09 gone in the first. Trailing early seemed to wake up the Farmers, as they kicked it up a notch and scored five times in the opening 20 minutes. Neepawa outshot Pilot Mound 18-8 in the opening period.
It appeared to be more of the same in the second, as Neepawa added four more goals, to make it 9-1. As the period progressed, both teams started getting chippy, forcing players from each squad to take multiple trips to the sin bin. On multiple occasions, the Pilots had a 5-on-3 man advantage. Then late in the second, Pilot Mound willed its way back towards respectability, scoring twice in the final minute. That included a goal with just 0.8 seconds left in the middle frame, to make it a 9-3 score. The shots on goal were 31-20, in favour of Neepawa.
While Pilot Mound did scored a fourth goal early in the third, Neepawa replied with three of their own in a span of 1:38, near the mid-point of the period. A late goal from Pilot Mound鈥檚 Brett Seymour would make the final score 12-5 for Neepawa. Brady Plett had a 26 save performance, to secure the win in net for the Farmers.
This win now sets up a potential THHL final preview, as Neepawa (12-2-0. 24 points) will host the Killarney Shamrocks (12-1-0. 24 points) at the Yellowhead Centre on Friday, Jan.19. Start time for this contest is set for 8:00 p.m. The next night, Neepawa will travel to Minnedosa to play the Bombers. That game will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Lakers keep it close: The Gladstone Lakers remained within striking distance of the Farmers in the eastern division standings, with a 5-3 win over the Deloraine Royals on Friday, Jan. 13. After falling behind 3-0 early in the first, the Lakers (11-5-0. 22 points) answered back with five goals over the course of the game. Jesse Hall and Jesse Paradis both scored twice for Gladstone, while Colt Meloney added one more. While the Lakers are just two points back in the eastern division, they have just two games remaining on their regular season schedule, while Neepawa has four to go.
Bombers return to action: With two games remaining in the THHL regular season schedule, the Minnedosa Bombers will be hoping to finish strong. A pair of wins against some potential playoff foes could be exactly what they鈥檙e looking for. The Bombers (7-8-1. 15 points) will host the Neepawa Farmers on Saturday, Jan. 20. A week later, they鈥檒l play Gladstone. Minnedosa will be looking for points in the standings in order to secure third place in the east, as they鈥檒l just two points clear of the fourth place MacGregor Wild (6-8-1. 13 points) The fifth place Cartwright Clippers also have an outside shot at fourth, as they currently have a 4-7-3 record, good enough for 11 points on the year. With four games left on the schedule, they statistically still have a shot at third place in the east.
