Third period thriller - RHL Mustangs defeat Huskies

RHL Huskies vs Mustangs
C. Davis photo

Chris Davis, Sports
Videos and photos C. Davis, photos L. Lybbert

Pincher Creek's RHL Huskies hosted Fort Macleod's Mustangs on Saturday evening, November 23 at the Memorial Community Centre arena.  Both teams came to play but the Mustangs won the day 6-4.

Lloyd Lybbert photo

Attendance at home Huskies games is almost always quite good compared to the rest of the RHL and this night was no exception with 197 paid fans in the seats to watch what turned out to be a high energy, low penalty, dramatic encounter.

Mustangs #19 Tyce Gallamore scored the first goal of the game from behind the net 7:24 into the first period, assisted by #7 Kent Broere and #20 Cole Matson.   Huskies #9 Kevin Olson tied it 1-1 with 2:37 remaining in the period, assisted by #2 Shane Yellow Horn.  Dramatically, Matson scored on a rebound for the Mustangs with only 5.6 seconds left in the period, assists going to Broere and Gallamore.  2-1 Mustangs.

Gallamore scored his second goal of the game just 17 seconds into the second period, assisted this time by #21 Lander Marr.  3-1 Mustangs. At the 9:42 mark it became 4-1 Mustangs after Broere scored his second goal of the game, assisted by Gallamore and #69 PJ Blackwater.  A long shot by Gallamore from the centre line with 54.4 seconds left on the clock went straight in, dramatically, but was disqualified.  No goals for the Huskies in the second period, which ended 4-1 in the Mustangs' favour.

The Huskies found their groove in the third period.  3:07 in Huskies #8 Brett Tarcon scored, assisted by #13 Jeremy Davidson and Shane Yellow Horn. 4-2 Mustangs. Lots of back and forth ensued, with no scoring until Mustangs #20 Cole Matson scored with 4:36 remaining to bring it to 5-2.

That was answered 33 seconds later by Huskies #17 Shawn Robertson, assisted by #21 Otis Potts and Kevin Olsen.  5-3.

Dramatically, with just 44.2 seconds remaining in the game Brett Tarcon scored his second goal for the Huskies, assisted by Robertson, and it was 5-4 and anything seemed possible.

However, the hometown crowd's hopes were dashed when Mustangs #8 Tyson Thomson smacked one in to a virtually empty Mustangs net with only 22.8 seconds remaining to make it 6-4 Mustangs.  Kent Broere picked up his third assist of the game on that play, and it was game over.

Shots on net turned out to be almost even, with Huskies #1 Joel Hasselman facing 35 shots and Mustangs #1 Garrett Smith facing 34 shots.

Players of the game:
Mustangs #17 Shae Ouelette, Mustangs #20 Cole Matson, and Huskies #8 Brett Tarcon.

The Huskies have an away game scheduled against Lomond on Saturday, November 30, starting at 8:30 pm.