SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers earned a huge confidence-building win on Thursday with a 4-2 decision over the league-leading and nationally-ranked Summerside Western Capitals.
Owen Cole scored his first goal in the Maritime Junior Hockey League and Caleb Rich had three assists for the Ramblers in the game that was played at 11 a.m. the Credit Union Place.
“It was a good response to the adversity we placed last week. It was a big two points against a Top 10 CJAHL ranked hockey team,” Ramblers’ coach Doug Doull said following the game. “It’s always big to win over there, but this was a little more special considering what we’ve been through.”
With the win, the Ramblers improved to 15-13-1 for 31 points – four up on Truro and four back of the Pictou County Weeks Crushers, who sit in third in the Eastlink South Division.
Mark Richard, Stephen Fox and Robbie Burt, into an empty net, also scored for Amherst.
Spencer Smith, Julian Hebert, Cole Darrach and Robbie Burt added assists.
Jacob Arsenault and Bennett MacArthur scored for Summerside.
Joel Ward faced 32 shots in goal for Amherst while Alex MacVicar faced 29 shots for Summerside.
For Amherst, the win comes after a pair of tough losses last weekend to the Yarmouth Mariners on Saturday in Amherst and Sunday in Fredericton.
“I call it a DNA game because it shows us who we are and what we can be,” he said. “We stressed strong team defence and it was a good game all around. I’m pretty happy about it.”
The Ramblers conclude the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule on Friday night in Truro.
“I look at Truro and consider them a highly-skilled team from the net out. They’ve made some moves and they can’t be taken lightly,” Doull said. “It will be another test for our group, but hopefully we can get two points before we head into the break.”
The break will give the team an opportunity to recover from some injuries, including to two of the team’s three goalies.
