Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ

Neepawa snaps six game skid in OCN

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

At times this season, consistent scoring and getting off to a quick start have been huge issues for the Neepawa Natives. The final game of November was not one of those times, as Neepawa scored six goals in the first two periods on Saturday, Nov. 29, on the way to a 6-3 over the OCN Blizzard.

The team struck first mid way through the first period with goal from Jordan Martin. Stephan Mather and Riley Hillis each contributed with a goal a piece before the end of the first 20 minutes to make it 3-0. The Mather goal was during a power play for Neepawa.

The Natives kept the pressure on OCN early in the second, as Brayden Atkinson scored at the 1:20 mark. The Blizzard slipped its’ first goal past Reid Stallard at 11:08 of the second period. Neepawa responded in rapid succession with a Garrett Rempel goal 18 seconds later and then a second power play goal from Stephen Mather 35 seconds after that to make it 6-1.

In the third period, OCN poured on the pressure and were able to score twice. That was not enough however as the Neepawa held on to the 6-3 victory and end a six game losing streak. Reid Stallard was solid in goal for Neepawa, stopping 41 shots and securing his first win of the season.

Neepawa improves to 9-19-1 on the season, amassing 19 points.