Matthew MacLean's Late Game Heroics Secures Victory for Red Devils

The Pownal Novice AA team played their final game before the Christmas break on Saturday December 20th at home against the Charlottetown Abbies. Jevan Morrow got the start in nets for the home team while Luke MacDougall and Logan Gregory started on defence and Evan Nicholson, Alexander Keus and Aiden Wilson started up front.

Pownal came out strong in the first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Keus and Nicholson.  Jevan Morrow made a huge save with five minutes to go in the first to preserve the two goal lead.

The Abbies came out strong to start the second period and Morrow made another big save as he dove across the net and stopped the shot with his stick. The teams then settled into a defensive game and the score was still 2-0 for Pownal after two periods.  There were several fans in the crowd talking about the great game Justin Smith had as he made several excellent passes and defensive stops.

In the third period Charlottetown pushed hard and tied the game with two quick goals. It seemed as though the game would end as a tie until Matthew MacLean scored his best goal of the year with just under seven minutes to go. He grabbed the puck in his own end and circled behind the net and then carried the puck coast to coast before burying it in the Charlottetown net.  The crowd went wild and people said you could hear the cheering in the parking lot. Pownal gained momentum from that goal and continued to push. The defensive pairing of Logan Gregory and Justin Smith showed their familiarity working together as they moved the puck back and forth across the blue line. Smith took a really hard wrist shot that was stopped by the Charlottetown goaltender, but Evan Nicholson was parked in front and put home the rebound. 

Final score was 4-2 Pownal, and the team was very happy to head into the Christmas break on a winning note.