THHL: Farmers top Hartney in high scoring showdown
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- Published on Thursday, December 1, 2016
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
A five point night from Matt Lowry (four goals - one assist), helped to carry the Neepawa Farmers to a wild 9-5 win over the Hartney Blues on Sunday, Nov. 27. The Tiger Hills Hockey League game, which turned into an 80s’ style NHL shootout, actually began as more of a 90s’ neutral trap snoozer. Kyle McDonald scored early for Neepawa, while Jordan Roper answered back for the Blues to make it just 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
In the second, things started to get a lot more interesting, as Matt Lowry put away a pair of goals in quick succession. He scored his first of the night with 7:51 gone in the second and followed it up 64 seconds later. Not to be outdone, Rhett Law etched his name on the Farmers’ scoresheet 23 seconds after that, to make it 4-1 for Neepawa. Hartney still had some fight in their game though, with Del Cowan notching two straight goals for the visiting Blues, for a 4-3 score shifting into the last period of regulation.
The third period was simply a shootout, with a combined seven goals put away by both sides. Neepawa’s Matt Lowry secured his third and fourth of the game, while Rodney White, Ward Szucki and Cam Tibbett each contributed as well. Mark Agnew and Anthony Druwe of Hartney, meanwhile, scored for the Blues in this fast paced final 20 minutes of action. After all these fireworks, it was Neepawa who claimed the 9-5 victory. While Lowry’s five points were the highlight of the night, Tibbett (1G - 3A), Rhett Law (1G -2A) and Ward Szucki (1G - 1A) also had impressive games for the Farmers.
With this win, Neepawa was able to improve its THHL regular season record to 3-4-0. Hartney, meanwhile, fell to 2-2-3 on the season. Neepawa’s next home game will be on Friday, Dec. 7 against the Minnedosa Bombers.
THHL recap:
MacGregor 5-1 Cartwright: Despite being an expansion team, the MacGregor Wild aren’t playing anything like one, with a 5-1 win over Cartwright. Justin Minoletti scored a pair of goals for the Wild (3-4-1), with Tanner Fluker securing the lone marker for the Clippers (3-4-0). The win allowed MacGregor to leapfrog Cartwright in the THHL eastern division standings with seven points.
Carberry 11-8 Gladstone: Neepawa vs Hartney wasn’t the only old school shootout of the weekend, as Carberry topped Gladstone 11-8 on Friday, Nov. 25. Zeanan Ziemer had a seven point night for the visiting Plainsmen, as he earned a hat trick to go along with four assists. Brock Sutherland also scored three times for Carberry, but ‘only’ ended up with a pair of assist to go along with it. As for the Lakers, a six point night by Jordan Geddes (2G - 4A) in the losing effort, allowed him to jump into a tie with Michael Reykdal (1G - 1A) of Carberry for the league’s points lead at 22. The Carberry Plainsmen (6-3-0) would quickly follow up with another victory on Saturday, Nov. 26, this time over Cartwright by the score of 6-2. These wins keep Carberry in top spot in the THHL eastern division with 12 points.
Minnedosa 9-5 Pilot Mound: The Minnedosa Bombers continue to nip at the heels of the division leading Plainsmen, with a 9-5 triumph over Pilot Mound. This penalty filled game featured a combined nine game misconducts, with seven of those registered in the final two minutes of the second period. As for the scoring stats, Carey Findley had a five point performance (3G - 2A), to power the Bombers to their fifth win of the year. Minnedosa’s 10 points put them just two behind Carberry, though the Bombers do have three games in hand on the schedule.
