League quarter-finals underway
The Spryfield Attack have taken a 2-1 series lead in quarter-final action against the South West Storm in the Nova Scotia Regional Junior Hockey League.
The South West Storm were edged by the Attack 3-2 in overtime in the best-of-five series opener on Feb. 25 at the Sandy Wickens Memorial Arena in Barrington.
The Storm came back with a 6-1 win in game two on March 1 in Spryfield. Brady Nickerson and Zach D’Arcy led the Storm offence with a goal and two assists each. Ethan Brannen, JJ MacPhee, Dylan Hatfield and Ryder Travis were the other marksmen.
Spryfield retaliated with a 4-1 win on March 2. Tylan Foster, assisted by Ryder Travis and Alexander Swaine scored the lone goal for the Storm.
Game four in the series is scheduled for March 9 in Spryfield. Game five if necessary is on tap for March 10 in Barrington at 2:30 p.m.
The Storm are the two-time defending league champs as well as the 2023 Maritime Junior C champions.
This year’s team is a mix of older guys and younger guys, says head coach Andrew Holland. “They’ve been playing good lately. The league is very tight between 1st and 6th. Anybody can win on a given night.”
The league expanded from six to eight teams this season with the Newport Titans and Bridgetown Admirals joining the league roster.
The expansion has made the league a lot better, says Holland, adding the team has had really good fan support all year.
The Storm was named executive of the year for the league awards handed out on Feb. 21.
Storm goalie Tyson Peters brought home the hardware for top goaltender save percentage and goals against average (GAA) for the regular season. He was also named to the first all-star team.
Storm forward Zach D’Arcy received the award for overager of the year Named to the second all star team was Storm defenceman Cole Nickerson.
The East Hants Penguins, who finished the season in first place have wrapped up their best-of-five series against league newcomers the Newport Titans 3-0. The Sackville Knights have also advanced to the next round with a 3-0 series win over the Bridgetown Admirals. The fourth quarterfinal series between the Eastern Shore Thunder and the South Shore Schooners is tied 2-2.