Lincs bounce back in Waterloo after losing to Chatham

By Spencer Seymour 

 It isn’t often that a 4-3 loss can feel like uncharted waters. 

 However, that was precisely the case when the St. Marys Lincolns suffered their first loss of the season when the Chatham Maroons walked into the PRC and left with a 4-3 win, ending the Lincolns’ historic win streak at 11 games. 

 The Lincs’ 11 straight victories made up the longest winning streak to start a season in franchise history. Not only was it the first loss of the season for the Lincolns, but it was also the first time they allowed more than three goals in a single game, as well as the first time they have trailed by more than one goal in a game this season.  Head coach Jeff Bradley wasn’t overly disappointed in his squad’s performance but, in the end, credited the Maroons for executing the little things better than the Lincolns did.  “I certainly don’t think we played too poorly,” Bradley told the Independent. “I think either team could have won that game, but it came down to minor details and Chatham capitalizing on chances when we didn’t. I thought we played hard and we didn’t quit. All credit to Chatham, they played a heck of a game.” 

 The Maroons opened the scoring with a powerplay goal by Noah Mathieson, who pounded a one-timer by goaltender Nico Armellin on a set-up pass by Connor Hunt. Along with Hunt, Blain Bacik picked up an assist.  Approximately seven minutes later, after Jaden Lee had a goal disallowed due to the net going off its moorings before Lee could tap home the rebound. However, just seconds later, Lee tucked a backhand shot by Maroons’ netminder Gannon Hunter to tie the game at one apiece. Luca Spagnolo and Julian Stubgen earned the assists. 

 Just one minute and 17 seconds later, Ryan Cornfield scored a powerplay goal assisted by Jacob McLellan and Zander Kechego, putting the Lincs ahead 2-1. However, before the first period was done, Colton Graham answered for Chatham, beating Armellin for his fifth of the year, tying the game 2-2 going into the second.  Coach Bradley said the team wasn’t getting enough high-danger scoring chances in the 20 minutes, something the group discussed during the intermission. 

 “That was something we talked about after the first period. It’s nice to get shots, we’re encouraging our players to shoot the puck, but shots from the outside, you’re more just getting the other goalie into a groove when there isn’t any traffic in front. We weren’t making life really tough on him, so that was something we talked about and I thought we did a better job of that in the second and third, but it took us a bit too long to find that urgency and establish our presence in front of the net.” 

 After a scoreless middle period, Hunt followed Ian Lachance in scoring two goals in just 26 seconds for the Maroons in the third frame. The two quick goals put the Lincolns behind by two goals for the first time this season, a deficit that held until the 14:54 mark of the third when Jacob Montesi netted his first of the season, with Lee picking up the lone assist. Bradley felt lapses in judgment were largely responsible for their defeat.  “The powerplay goals cancel each other out, but you look at their other goals, and it’s Chatham capitalizing on mistakes. We had a bit of bad luck on one of the goals, but the other two were Chatham taking advantage of us either turning it over or making mistakes, whereas we had all those chances on the five-on-three and one with a wide-open net that we just weren’t able to bury on.” 

 The Lincolns were playing with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, with forwards Ryan Hodkinson and Noah VandenBrink not dressing, the former due to injury, the latter due to being on vacation. As a result, the left side of the team’s forward group was reduced to Chase MacQueen-Spence, Owen Voortman, and Blake Elzinga. 

 “We rolled through three left wingers, Chase, Owen, and Blake, and considering the amount of ice time they played, they played some really good minutes for us,” Bradley praised. “They played really hard, they were reliable offensively and defensively, and I thought they did some really good things that helped us really stay in the game.” 

 Bradley also mentioned his team’s need to play with better discipline, as the game against the Maroons marked the fourth game of the Lincolns’ last six in which St. Marys has played shorthanded at least five times in a game. 

 “We’re only around the middle of the league when it comes to penalty minutes, but I still think we’re taking too many penalties. We’re fortunate to have a great penalty kill, but we’re putting a lot of extra pressure on those guys. We can’t control refereeing, so there is no point in getting frustrated with it, even if it’s understandable sometimes. We can only control what we do, so we need to do a better job at playing with more discipline.” 

 

Lincs bounce back in 4-2 win over K-W 

 The Lincolns rebounded on Oct. 27, getting back in the win column by doubling up the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins by a final score of 4-2.  “I thought we played really well yesterday and, if not for their goaltender having an amazing game, the score could have been quite a bit more lopsided,” Bradley remarked. “Especially earlier in the game. I thought we dominated and gave [the Siskins] very little. So, I was very happy with our performance.”  Heading into the game, the head coach said the team was both excited for more available space on the larger rink and focused on having better intensity. “We talked about some core concepts that we preach and take options away up ice, which I thought we did. Our forechecking was great, which was something else we talked about, but just as important was having good puck support on the big ice. You can get lost at times when you’re on a bigger ice surface so supporting the puck the way we did was really important. 

 “I think any chance to get to play on Olympic size ice, the players are certainly excited,” Bradley continued. “They get to show off their talents and they get to hold on to the puck a little bit longer. Playing in some of the smaller rinks, you have to make plays a bit quicker and there is more pressure to make good decisions quickly. So, when we play on an ice surface that big, it’s a treat.”  Bradley added that their gameplan was executed much better against the Siskins than against the Maroons. 

 “Kitchener-Waterloo and Chatham play very similar styles in that they are very good offensively and they try to look for a lot of options up the ice. We play a very frustrating style for our opponent and if we play it properly, it puts a lot of pressure on the other team. We did a great job of taking away their options up ice, which forced their defencemen to hang to it a bit longer, which then allowed our forechecking forwards to strip pucks and generate chances.” 

 The Lincs were largely dominant in the first period, outshooting the Siskins 15-5 in the first 20 minutes. Owen Voortman, who entered the game with just one goal in his previous six games, tallied a goal at the 11:23 mark of the opening frame on an abbreviated St. Marys powerplay. Siskins’ netminder Nolan Chartrand turned away the Lincolns’ 14 other shots and was largely responsible for the Siskins staying in the game. The powerplay goal kept the Lincolns’ man advantage rolling along at a consistently strong clip, with the team currently having at least one powerplay goal in 12 of their 13 games so far this year. 

 With nine minutes and 22 seconds left in the second and a delayed Siskins’ penalty, Jaden Lee found the back of the net to put the Lincs up by two. Just under four minutes later, after several big stops by Colby Booth-Housego, Devon Ferroni whacked home a rebound to get Kitchener-Waterloo on the scoresheet. A mere 49 seconds later, while on a powerplay, Jaden Lee scored his second of the game and ninth of the season.  MacQueen-Spence picked up assists on all three Lincolns’ goals, the first two of which gave the 19-year-old 100 career GOJHL points. MacQueen-Spence heads into the Lincs’ game on Nov. 1 against the Caledonia Corvairs with points in eight of his last nine outings, including nine points in his last five.  Spagnolo, Ethan Coups, and Ryder Livermore all added an assist through the first two periods. Bradley felt many of his top players turned in elite-level showings. 

 “Luca [Spagnolo] and Jaden [Lee] had another big game for us. They got back to how they were playing a few weeks ago which was a really elite level. We paired centres and right wingers up and rotated our left wingers through all the lines again, and I thought our three guys on the left side did well. Chase [MacQueen-Spence] and Owen [Voortman] in particular were great. It’s tougher in that kind of situation to build chemistry but I thought our guys did really well.” 

 St. Marys maintained a two-goal lead for much of the third until Liam King deflected a point shot from Jackson Cunningham-Louks past Booth-Housego to cut the Lincolns’ lead to one. However, Booth-Housego stood tall the rest of the way before Voortman iced the game with his second of the afternoon fired into an empty net. Owen Kalp earned the only assist. 

 The team’s response to losing their first of the season was praised by the bench boss. 

“Some of these guys haven’t lost a game that meant something since May, and the last time they lost, it was a pretty devastating one,” said Bradley. “A big part of our pregame conversation was reminding ourselves how we turned that loss in May into a big positive that we built off of coming into this year. It was important to take our game against Chatham in the same manner and we did that.” 

 


 Jaden Lee photo: 

Jaden Lee scores a goal during the St. Marys Lincolns game against the Chatham Maroons on Oct. 25. Lee finished the weekend with three goals and one assist in the Lincolns’ two games. Photo credit: McGinny Photography 

 Chase MacQueen-Spence photo: 

St. Marys Lincolns’ forward Chase MacQueen-Spence poses with his taped puck, commemorating his 100th career GOJHL point. MacQueen-Spence reached the milestone on Oct. 27 in the Lincs’ 4-2 win over the Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins as part of a three-point game for the Lincolns’ assistant captain. Photo credit: Spencer Seymour