Scotians upset Miners, reach league final
They needed a third-period uprising in the last game of the regular season just to make the playoffs.
Now the Pictou County Scotians find themselves playing for a Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League title.
Jacob Pentz scored the winning goal in the third period as Pictou County knocked off the Junior Miners 4-3 on Sunday, to win the Sid Rowe Divisional final series in seven games.
“It’s all a blur, it all happened so fast,” said Pentz. “I didn’t even know I scored, and then everyone was just going crazy. I just remember shooting the puck and it squeaked in.”
“We didn’t give up. It was a huge team effort,” said the Trenton resident.
As a rookie on the team, he said the victory means a lot to him, but even more to the veteran players.
Captain Brendon Duff, playing his third year on the team, said it feels good to get the chance to play for the league title, especially after being beaten by the Miners in the division final twice before. “…it meant a lot because they were the team that put us out the past two years and it felt great to finally get our chance to move on.”
Duff sat out the last two games after receiving a suspension for abuse of officials in game 5, and he’s glad he has another chance to play. “Can’t thank the boys enough for winning the series,” he said.
The resilient Scotians trailed 3-1 heading into the latter stages of the second period before goals from Riley Cameron and Blair Dewtie sent the teams into the second intermission knotted at 3-3. Ethan Snell had the other goal for the Scotians.
Coach Al Whidden said it was a big win. “Just to see them be rewarded for their hard work was great.”
This is the third year in a row the two teams have met in the division final. In previous match-ups, Whidden said the Miners seemed to have more depth, but this year his team could claim that instead. “I think that made the difference, we had more quality guys to put out.”
Whidden said goaltender Brandon MacDonald, a first team all-star last year, was “fantastic” during the series, and he said forwards Riley Cameron and Lucas Rushton deserve special mention as well. He said Rushton “does all the little things right,” while Cameron, a thirdyear player who is leading the playoffs in points, has brought leadership and determination, big factors for the team.
The Scotians won the first two games in the series, then the Miners came back to win the next three. The Scotians forced game 7 with a 6-2 win in game 6.
Pictou County awaits the winner of the series between the Liverpool Privateers and Valley Maple Leafs. Liverpool leads that series 3-2, heading into game 6 on Monday. Game details weren’t available by press time.
According to Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League playoff writer Dan Boyd, Pictou County will compete for the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League Championship for the first time since entering the Nova Scotia Junior League in 1994-95.
“They will try to become the first Junior B Team from Pictou (County) to win a provincial championship in 44 years, as it has not been done since the New Glasgow Bombers of the old Metro Valley Junior Hockey League captured provincial honours in 1972-73.”