Maroon split opening games

Posted By Greg Vandermeulen

Posted 2 months ago

The official puck drop by Manitoba Sunflower Festival royalty, a 35 year tradition continued at the season opener for the Altona Maroons. Left, Maroons Captain Jon Froese, 1st Princess Verna Klippenstein, Sunflower Queen Cheryl Krahn, 2nd Princess Taylor Nickel and Warren Mercs Captain Scott Corbett.

A strong third period gave the Altona Maroons the come from behind 5-4 victory in their home opener against the Warren Mercs on Nov. 14. The second game of the season for the Maroons, they secured their first win of the year thanks to a strong third period.

It didn't start off all that well for the Maroons. Justin Crockatt and Rhys Vankemenade of the Mercs got first period goals, while Shea Hamilton was the only Maroons scorer.

In the second Crockatt gave the Mercs a 3-1 lead. Keith Bially took the assist from Jared Lang and Gerald Tetrault to score on the power play, but Burke Vankemenade gave Warren another goal to end the period up 4-2.

In the third it was all Maroons. Jared Lang scored on the power play only 29 seconds in and Matt Dyck followed that with a shorthanded goal a few minutes later. Shea Hamilton scored the winning goal in the 5-4 decision.

The win was costly, with an elbow catching Kevin Ginter in the face, breaking his jaw. He will be out of the lineup for the near future.

Maroons coach Woody Cornelson said the game didn't start out that well. "We came out quite sluggish with a lot of standing around and waiting," he said. "For the first 40 minutes we certainly weren't hungry."

The first game of the season was well played, but ended in a loss.

The Maroons traveled to Morden to take on the Redskins, losing 4-3 on Nov. 12.

Matt Dyck opened the scoring on the powerplay for Altona, but a pair of goals from Mike Hamilton of the Redskins, put them out in front. Jon Froese tied the game with only nine seconds left in the first period.

Despite a strong effort in the second, it was all Morden as Ramsay Fehr scored a pair to give Morden the 4-2 lead.

Keith Bially brought the Maroons within one in the third period, but they couldn't complete the comeback.

Cornelson was pleased with the effort. "I was extremely happy with how we played," he said. "We battled hard, we competed."

Shannon Enns was in net for the Maroons in the first game, while Dusty Friesen was between the pipes in the home opener. Cornelson said they will give both goalies plenty of chances in net.

"We have two quality goaltenders that are capable of starting every night," he said.

The Maroons next action is Nov. 21 when they visit the Oakville Seals.

The next home game will be Nov. 28 when they host the Carman Beavers.

With the season just getting underway, the league has shown plenty of parity. With no team playing more than three games as of press time, all eight teams had already secured a win. Notre Dame, Morden and Plum Coulee were the only teams that had yet to lose.