AMHERST, N.S. – Matching each other goal for goal, the Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers ended up on top, beating the South Shore Lumberjacks 4-3 Saturday night at Amherst Stadium.
“I don’t think that was our best game but we did what we needed to do to win,” said Jeff LeBlanc, Ramblers coach and general manager. “We were tight and we made a few bad mistakes but, at the same time, you can’t dwell on the negative when you’re up 3-2 in the series when you were down 2-0.”
Aidan McFarland scored the game winner late in the third period. With the win, the Ramblers take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Maritime Hockey League Eastlink South Division semi-final series.
The Ramblers lost the first two games of the series in double overtime.
LeBlanc says they call it sudden-death overtime for a reason.
“It feels like you die. When you lose it feels like you didn’t do anything right when, really, you lost in double overtime,” said LeBlanc. “When you leave the rink you feel like you were one chance away from winning, and it’s tough.”
He says it can be very difficult to bounce back from two overtime losses but his team responded.
“Give a lot of credit to our team right now. They put that aside. We’re not even thinking about that,” said LeBlanc. “We can’t do anything about what’s in the past, we can only work on what’s in the future.”
They are now preparing for Game 6 Monday night in Bridgewater.
“The hardest game to win is that fourth game, so we’re going to need our best effort. We know it’s going to be a tough one Monday night.”
They will practice on Sunday in preparation for the game.
“We’ll adjust a few things and get ready for probably the biggest test of the year.”
With a win, the Ramblers clinch the series and play the Yarmouth Mariners in the South Division final.
If they lose, the Ramblers will be back home for Game 7 Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Game 5 Summary:
First Period
Casey Fox opened the scoring in Game 5 at 2:28 into the first period off assists from Bradley Dawe and Matt Green.
The first period ended with the Game tied 1-1
Second Period
Will Lafford put the Ramblers up 2-1 off a pass from Caleb Rich, the Lumberjacks tied it up 2-2, and then Alex Lafreniere put the Ramblers up 3-2 off a pass from Cole Waugh.
The second period ended in a 3-3 tie.
Third Period
Aidan McFarland scored the game winner at 16:33 into the third period. Nick Snow assisted on the goal.
Goaltending
Matt Williams played in net for the Ramblers. Shots on net was 29-28 for the Ramblers.
Attendance
Game attendance was 1,468.
