North Star boys hockey team records tie and loss over the past week

North Star’s Mason Long (right) takes a shot during last Thursday afternoon’s 6-5 loss to the Riverside Stingers.

The North Star Wolves boys hockey team had a pair of games last week, tying one and losing the other.

The Wolves opened the week with a game against L’Essor Jan. 6 at the Libro Centre in Amherstburg. In what was their first game back after the Christmas break, the Wolves got out to a 4-1 lead but L’Essor rallied back to pull out a 4-4 tie. 

Luke Mailloux had three goals for the Wolves while Mason Long had the other.

“I thought we played good for most of the game,” said Ryan Reid. “We all played together. There was no lack of effort.”

Mailloux agreed that the Wolves played well for the most part.

“I think we played pretty good for most of the game, except the last five minutes. We let up a little bit,” said Mailloux. “Other than that, we played pretty good.”

“I think we have to give a full 45 minutes,” added Reid, in reference to the three 15-minutes played in WECSSAA boys high school hockey.

Despite settling for one point instead of two, it was still a better result for North Star as compared to the first time the two teams met this season. L’Essor defeated North Star 6-1 Dec. 4 at Tecumseh Arena.

Wolves head coach Glen Holden said L’Essor is the league’s first-place team so he was happy with the effort his players put in.

“I loved our work ethic,” said Holden.

Holden noted they also lost to L’Essor in a tournament earlier in the season. He added they have been challenged offensively this year and praised the game Mailloux played, noting Mailloux is a Grade 9 student.

The Wolves hosted the Riverside Stingers last Thursday afternoon at the Libro Centre and lost 6-5. The game was tied 2-2 after one period, took a 3-2 lead in the second period but Riverside scored four straight goals to seize command. The Wolves would score two goals late to make it close but they fell short. 

Christian Barron, Mailloux, Jake Beaudoin, Reid and Jackson Mastronardi scored North Star’s goals.

“We had some chances with goalie pulled but couldn’t finish before curfew. We couldn’t contain their #17 (Carter Maxey) defensively,” said Holden. “Too many missed assignments, and we’re not going to win many games by giving up six goals.”  

Holden added suspensions, injuries and illness are taking a toll, stating “we looked tired. We didn’t have the same jump as Tuesday.  We have rematch with Riverside on Tuesday at WFCU.”

The Wolves record through five games is 1-3-1.

In addition to the Jan. 13 game at the WFCU Centre against Riverside, played after this issue of the RTT went to press, the Wolves other two remaining regular season games are also on the road. They play Lajeunesse Jan. 15 and Herman Feb. 3, with both games being at Central Park Athletics at 3 p.m.

North Star boys hockey team records tie and loss over the past week

By Ron Giofu