AMHERST - The Amherst Regional High School Vikings beat the Northumberland Nighthawks 4-2 during Nova Scotia Schools Athletic Federation, Division 2 hockey action Sunday afternoon at Amherst Stadium.
"We're very happy with the discipline they showed out there," said Vikings assistant coach Kelvin Gould. "It's an issue we've been working on all season and they showed a lot of restraint out there."
The Vikings had 10 penalties in the game, while the Nighthawks had 14.
Three of the Vikings four goals came on the power play.
"It's clear that the most penalized team is the team that's scored on the most. That's true with all high school hockey. We've seen it all year long," said Gould. "The team that's penalized is the team that loses over and over and over again.
"We just have to stay out of the penalty box. When we do that we win."
Joel Boyle got the Vikings going when he scored a power play goal in the first period off a pass from Joel St. Peters.
Vikings captain Andrew Skinner scored two power play goals in the second period. His first goal came off an assist from Mitchell Speight, and Kirk Hamilton and Speight assisted his second goal.
The Vikings went into the third period up 3-2, and Matt Beal put the Vikings up 4-2 on a shorthanded goal. Alex VanSnick assisted on the goal.
Vikings goaltender Evan MacKenzie faced 31 shots on the night, while his team had 26 shots on the Nighthawks goal.
The Vikings will play a best three-out-of-five series against the Nighthawks starting in New Glasgow.
"If they win, then they go onto the provincials, but if we win we're both going," said Gould. "We get Stephen Belyea back from a concussion next week and we have a couple kids out on suspensions and work commitments. When we get our full team back we'll be hard to beat."
The Vikings lost 9-1 on Friday to the North Nova Gryphons.
"We had a short bench and North Nova is a Division 1 school and they were flying," said Gould. "We came in flat-footed and we just weren't prepared."
The Vikings have a re-match with North Nova Friday night at 8:15 p.m. at Amherst Stadium.
dmathieson@amherstdaily.com
