Lincoln Moore puts home his first of three goals in the St. Marys Lincolns’ 4-2 win over the Stratford Warriors on Dec. 11. Photo by Turner Roth
By Spencer Seymour
Seldom have the scoring summaries of two games been less indicative of how the contests actually played out than the St. Marys Lincolns’ back-to-back wins over the Stratford Warriors on Dec. 11 and St. Thomas Stars on Dec. 12.
The Lincolns had their first faceoff against their rivals from Stratford, and while they came away with a 4-2 victory, according to head coach Jeff Bradley, it was not the performance the team was hoping for.
“I did not think we were good at all,” Bradley said. “I thought it was an incredibly disappointing effort. We won basically because of Brogan (Colquhoun) and because of Lincoln (Moore). We didn’t have it going and we were forced to defend and that’s something we do very well, and we had to sell out to do it with a lot of blocked shots.”
Evan Arnold gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but Lincoln Moore tied the game for St. Marys with just under five minutes to go in the period. Moore’s goal was arguably the first and only high-quality scoring chance of the opening frame for the Lincolns, who were stymied by the stingy Warriors defence. And while the Lincolns managed a few more chances in the final two periods than they did in the first, Bradley noted he wasn’t pleased with the team’s execution at any point in the game.
“We were second to every puck,” said Bradley. “We lost most of the battles. We turned pucks over. The only good thing that came out of that were the two points, but that wasn’t our only goal. It was our first time playing Stratford this season, so we had a message we wanted to send, but we didn’t send any type of good message.”
Moore scored again just 96 seconds into the middle stanza before Devun Colebrook buried his 10th of the season in the final minute of the second period. Moore completed the hat-trick just 52 seconds into the third with Max Wildfong cutting the Lincolns’ lead back to two with a goal at 16:19 mark of the final frame.
Bradley credited Moore and Colquhoun, who made 36 saves in the Lincolns’ crease, as being the only bright spots in the team’s otherwise-lacklustre showing.
“It’s been great for Lincoln (Moore) as of late,” Bradley said. “In the game against Chatham at home (on Dec. 5), he sat a little bit and I think he took that message to heart because every single shift since then, he’s been in beast mode. Lincoln knows how important he is to our team, not only production-wise but as a kid who can do it all. When he’s engaged, there’s nobody that’s going to stop him.”
Lincs’ dominance finally pays off in barn-burning comeback win
Just 24 hours later, the Lincolns delivered arguably one of their most complete games of the season, a feat not reflected in the scoresheet, which showed the Lincs as going down 3-0 to the St. Thomas Stars in the first period and staying down by three through two periods.
George Matsos scored a pair for the Stars before Luke Wachowiak extended the St. Thomas lead to 3-0. Vaughn Barr was pulled to start the second period.
Despite the deficit, there was no question in anyone’s mind that the only reason the Stars were in control of the scoreboard was goaltender William Camputaro, who stoned the Lincolns for the first 40 minutes.
Bradley explained how he felt very positive all game long behind the bench despite his squad trailing by three at the end of two periods.
“From puck drop, we were outstanding. I thought it was a complete game by us. There were a couple breakdowns, specifically on the first two goals, but other than that, I thought we dominated the game, the possession, the shots and the scoring chances. St. Thomas really didn’t have much at all.”
“We were getting beat by a goalie, but we kept going. It’s easy to throw in the towel and just think, ‘You know what? It’s not our night.’ But we didn’t do that. We kept going and eventually we got the results. The hunger in this team is amazing. We’re so proud of this team after a game like that.”
Bradley credited the Lincolns’ captain, Chase MacQueen-Spence, for providing steadying, motivational leadership on the bench throughout the game.
“That comeback is a testament to Chase (MacQueen-Spence). Chase has grown and matured so much over the years. There are times when players aren’t scoring and they can get negative and start getting down on each other, but I kept hearing Chase the entire night on the bench saying, ‘We’ve just got to keep going, we’re almost there, we’re right there, keep going.’ He didn’t get negative once, and the guys follow that. That was a great example set by our captain.”
Both teams failed to find the back of the net in the second frame, but it was clear the Lincolns were in control as they led the shot clock 34-14 at the end of two periods.
“It was honestly almost videogame like where you’re playing on extra-hard mode,” said Bradley. “We just could not beat that goalie. He kept them in it as long as he could, but we just did not give up, and we deserved it. We looked at it as just a matter of time that we would break that goaltender, and boy, did we ever.”
Less than a minute into the third, Owen Kalp finally got the Lincolns on the board with his sixth of the campaign. After around seven and a half minutes of constant Lincolns pressure, they blew the doors down on the Stars, scoring three goals in three minutes and 15 seconds, including goals by MacQueen-Spence, Callum McAuley and Declan Ready.
Despite dominating the game, the adversity continued presenting itself to the Lincolns, with the Stars not only firing off a lucky shot to tie the game at four apiece, which ended up forcing overtime, but St. Marys lost a pair of defencemen to injury, including Jacob Montesi and Luke McMillan. This forced the Lincs to not only rely heavily on their four remaining defenders but also shift forward Ryan Hodkinson to the blueline. Bradley credited all five for delivering clutch defensive minutes when they needed it most.
“It speaks to our depth that the other guys were able to get us through that,” Bradley said. “And to have a guy like Ryan (Hodkinson) go back and play as if he’s one of our best defensemen, it shows these kids are selfless players and selfless teammates and that they’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
In overtime, after four and a half minutes of mostly end-to-end action, Hodkinson outwaited the Stars’ defenders as well as Camputaro in goal until McAuley was left all alone, at which point Hodkinson placed the puck on a platter for the Timmins native, who buried the game-winner for his second of the night and third goal in as many games since joining the Lincolns.
Bradley had high praise for the 19-year-old McAuley, noting he has been a positive contributor since joining the Lincolns.
“It’s tough for a kid to join a new hockey team, and it’s even tougher for a kid to come in and have an immediate impact, and Callum (McAuley) has fit like a glove. Everything about him is what we look for in a player for the St. Marys Lincolns. He works hard. He’s smart. He’s quick. He’s got skill. He’s everything we needed at the time Pat acquired him and the fact he’s fit in so seamlessly is such a relief.”
