Jack Taylor scores his first goal in a St. Marys Lincolns’ jersey during the Lincs’ 6-5 win over the Stoney Creek Generals Sept. 25. Photo credit: Charis Muhtar
By Spencer Seymour
Seldom does a team win a game during which they played near-perfect for 40 minutes, and there is almost a referendum on the team coming out of that game.
It takes a truly cataclysmic period to do that.
Unfortunately, that is what the St. Marys Lincolns endured Sept. 25 in the 6-5 white-knuckled win over the Stoney Creek Generals, where, after two periods, St. Marys led 6-1, with shots being 44-7.
While the game took a sharp turn in the third, head coach Jeff Bradley admitted he saw virtually nothing wrong with his team’s play during the first two frames.
“I liked everything in the first and second periods,” said Bradley. “We did a different approach to our team meeting. We ended up actually doing team video to correct a couple of things. We reviewed defensive zone and neutral zone coverages. I thought there was a lack of communication that was causing us to run around not knowing who had which responsibility.
“I thought we saw immediate change in those areas in the first and second period. We started communicating a bit better. We were physical and right on top of them. Our powerplay was good, and seeing yourself do some things, I think it helps, especially being able to practice it right after. I had zero complaints with our first two periods.”
The strong play was kicked off by a line featuring two forwards making their Lincolns’ debuts in Campbell Lehto, a 17-year-old Los Angeles, Calif., native who scored 33 goals and 62 points in 41 games with the U16 Epic Sports Academy last year, and Jack Taylor, who posted 12 goals and 27 points in 42 games with the PJHL’s Exeter Hawks.
“We wanted to make sure we were setting the tone physically, and I thought starting that line of Campbell (Lehto), Chase (McDougall), and Jack (Taylor) certainly got us on that track,” Bradley noted. “We’ve been searching for each line to have an identity, and those three players are hungry, they’re physical, they have skill, and they are also intelligent. It was a good mix.”
Taylor scored his first goal as a Lincoln in his debut, while Oliver Lacko chipped in a pair, and David Heath and James MacGregor also scored. Mikey Pope also finally found his first goal of the season after some tremendous play in his first four games of the year went unrewarded.
“I was really happy for him,” said Bradley. “Mikey (Pope) could be the most skilled player we have, and sometimes, those guys lack physicality or a drive, but Mikey is a skilled player who is incredibly physical, works very hard, and just wants to learn and be a better player. Even when he wasn’t scoring, he was doing a lot of good things to give himself some chances, and it was nice to see him get one.”
Then, the third period hit, and after nothing went wrong for 40 minutes, nothing went right for the Lincolns in the final 20. The Generals scored four unanswered goals to make it a one-goal game, and came within inches of tying it when they hit a post in the dying moments on a point shot that goaltender Kobe Nadalin couldn’t see through a maze of bodies.
“It was honestly one of the most embarrassing displays of hockey I’ve ever been a part of,” said Bradley. “I think we should be incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of the way we played. It was definitely something mentally wrong. They just decided they didn’t want to play anymore. They thought the game was over and they quit.”
Lincs respond with 5-2 win in Elmira
As a result of their disastrous third period, the Lincolns walked into Elmira Sept. 27 with a point to prove, and thankfully, for them, according to assistant coach Brian Dobbin, they proved it.
“It was a good team effort,” Dobbin stated. “Everyone showed up ready to play. They were just consistent. They followed the gameplan. They didn’t deviate from it. They wanted to play the right way and knew they were up against a very good team, and they just went about their business, and it never altered from that. We wanted to prove that we could play a full 60 minutes, and the guys really came prepared and ready to play ”
One of the most impressive aspects of the Lincolns’ performance in Elmira was the shutting down of Brendan Gerber who, aside from scoring on a flukey misplay of the puck by goaltender Brogan Colquhoun, was wholly neutralized by the Lincs’ defence.
Dobbin explained the keys the team outlined for shutting down Gerber, who entered the game with goals in all but one of his first five games.
“It’s just about making sure we’re good in the neutral zone, making sure there are no turnovers in the neutral zone, and making sure we had tight coverage in the defensive end. With certain players that have a high skill level like (Brendan) Gerber has, you want to make sure you’re paying attention and playing the right way, and we did against Gerber. We know the type of player he is, and we just made sure that we were ready and played a good defensive team game against him.”
David Heath scored twice, making it three straight games with a goal for the Kingston Frontenacs’ 2025 10th-round pick, while McDougall, Tyson Cartier, and Devun Colebrook also chipped in goals.
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