YARMOUTH – The Yarmouth Mariners posted two big wins with two home victories over the Amherst Ramblers this past weekend.
With the four points gleaned from the back-to-back games that were played in Yarmouth Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, the Mariners extended their first-place lead over the second-place Ramblers in the Eastlink South division, coming out of the weekend with 60 points in the division compared to the Ramblers’ 54 points. Click here to see the MHL standings.
In four previous outings between the two teams, the Mariners had only come away with one victory.
The Feb. 1 contest ended in a 5-1 win for the Mariners. Brent Broaders (Landon Quinney) opened the scoring in the first period with teammates Connor Peveril (Matt Barron) and Andrew Martell (Logan Timmons, Chris Goreham on the PP) extending the lead to 3-0 at the end of two frames.
In the third period the Mariners stretched their lead to 5-0 off the sticks of Daniel Surette (Broaders, Barron) and Peveril (Cade Neilson, Brady Crossley) who added his second goal of the night. An Amherst goal scored at 16:07 by Casey Fox (Zack Pilon, Hunter McIntrye) prevented the shutout for Mariners goalie Tyler Caseley who stopped 29 of 30 shots in the game. In net for the Ramblers, Matt Williams turned away 26 of 31 shots.
It was a low penalty affair with the Mariners in the box for 8 minutes during the game and the Ramblers in the box for 10 minutes.
The two teams geared up again Feb. 2 and faced each other in a tighter score. Yarmouth opened up the scoring on a goal by Matt Barron (Goreham, Quinney) on the PP 6:07 into the frame. The Mariners had a chance to extend their lead with a 5-on-3 advantage later in the period (which included a too many men call on the Ramblers and a slashing penalty drawn by goalie Matt Williams) but the Mariners weren’t able to capitalize on the advantage. Less than a minute after the Mariners’ powerplay expired Amherst evened the score 1-1 with Hunter McIntyre (Will Lafford, Max Boudreau) scoring.
Broaders (Barron, Surette) added his first goal of the night in the second period, which was the lone scoring in the frame, putting the Mariners up 2-1.
Broaders (Miguel Poirier) added his second goal of the game in the third period, allowing the Mariners to pull ahead 3-1. But the Ramblers answered back 34 seconds later with a goal by Dawson Grenier (Cole Waugh, Nick Snow) to bring the game back within one with just over 8 minutes left on the clock. Yarmouth’s Derrick Johnson (Noah McMullin, Brett Crossley) gave the Mariners a more comfortable 4-2 lead at 18:28 as the final time ticked away.
Unlike the night before, the penalty box was a busier place on Saturday night with Amherst receiving 16 minutes in minor penalties, a 5-minute major for fighting and three 10-minute misconducts. Yarmouth saw 6 minutes in minor penalties, along with a 5-minute major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
In net for the Mariners, Caseley made 33 saves on 35 shots for the win. For the Ramblers Williams had 32 saves on 36 shots in the loss.
THIS WEEK
Yarmouth is back on the ice Feb. 7 in an away game in Bridgewater with the South Shore Lumberjacks. The Mariners will host the Jacks on Friday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and hosts Truro on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.
Amherst is at Valley Tuesday, Feb. 5. On Friday, Feb. 8, Amherst hosts Miramichi at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 9, Amherst travels back to Valley for a 7 p.m. game.
