YARMOUTH, N.S. – The Yarmouth Mariners took a 2-1 series lead over the Truro Bearcats in Game 3 of their MHL series but it took overtime to do it.
A shot – and what a shot it was – from Noah McMullin at 2:03 in overtime gave the Mariners the 3-2 win. McMullin’s goal, assisted by Campbell Balk and Aaron Maillet, went fast, high and hard beating Truro goalie Kevin Resop in the extra frame and sending the crowd of nearly 1,300 fans in the Mariners Centre into a frenzy.
The game was a scoreless affair in the first period for both teams, with the Mariners having more chances to score with 12 shots on net compared to the Bearcats’ four shots. The Mariners looked to catch a break in the first period with a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play after Truro was handed penalties for tripping and high sticking. However the Bearcats were strong on the penalty kill, leaving the Mariners empty handed.
The first goal of the second period was scored by Truro off the stick of Campbell Pickard (Karter Renouf) but Truro barely had time to enjoy their celebration before Yarmouth tied the score 49 seconds later on a goal by Luc Poirier (Adam Pilotte, Andrew Martell).
Poirer gave himself and his team an early birthday present – his birthday is March 20 – by putting the Mariners up 2-1 at the 9:30 mark of the second period. That goal was assisted by Patrick Daley and Derrick Johnson. Shots are goal were even in the third with seven shots by each team.
In the third period much of the play was controlled by the Bearcats who had 12 shots on Yarmouth goalie Leif Hertz compared to Yarmouth’s two shots on the Truro net. Yarmouth had trouble getting out of their own end for much of the period. Eventually it paid off for Truro who tied the game 2-2 at the 9:13 mark on a goal by Dylan Burton (Alex MacDonald).
A high sticking penalty was given to Yarmouth with just under three minutes left in the game. Yarmouth came close, however, to scoring a short-handed goal during their penalty kill. Yarmouth also looked poised to have a good scoring chance with just under 25 seconds left of play but was offside as they crossed the blue line for the attack.
The 3rd star of the March 19 game was Noah McMullin of Yarmouth. Truro’s Dylan Burton was named second star and Yarmouth’s Luc Poirier was first star.
Yarmouth had won Game 1 of this Eastlink South Division semi-final series by a score of 2-0. Truro won Game 2 with a 1-0 victory. Game 4 goes Wednesday night in Truro at 7 p.m. The teams will be back in Yarmouth for Game 5 on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
In the other Eastlink South playoff series game Monday night, the South Shore Lumberjacks defeated the Amherst Ramblers 5-3 to take a 2-1 series lead there.
