The Niverville Nighthawks played a pair of games on the weekend and came away with a win and a loss.
Saturday night, the Portage Terriers were in Niverville and hoped to rebound from the previous match-up against the Nighthawks, when they lost 6-2.
This time the Terriers came out strong and played a great 200’ game, making it hard for the Nighthawks to gain a foothold during the contest. Kian Calder opened the scoring just over a minute into the game and gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead heading into the second frame.
Brett Tataryn managed to score a power-play goal in the second, getting the home squad on the board and tying the game at 1 goal aside.
Kaden Kohl made it 2-1 for the Terriers after taking a nice feed from Hayden Chaloner. Portage forward, Ryan Botteril scored what proved to be the eventual game-winner on a power play goal midway through the second period. The game was 3-1 in favor of Portage after 2.
Isaac Rentmeester closed the gap to 3-2, but Slade Stanick sealed things with an empty net goal late in the third. The game ended 4-2 in favor of the Terriers.
Niverville came close a few times during the contest but some penalty trouble slowed their comeback attempt. Ethan Kadatz made 26 saves on 29 shots and played well for the Nighthawks.
On Sunday the Nighthawks traveled to Winnipeg to take on the Blues.
Niverville came to play and led the Blues 3-0 until the latter stages of the second period. Desmond Johnson dazzled with some fantastic play and scored his 3rd of the campaign. Ethan Kelly and Merik Boles scored their first MJHL goals, helping the Nighthawks stay ahead midway through the game. The Blues threatened late in the second, making it 3-2 Niverville after 2 periods.
The third however was all Niverville. Carter Spirig, Eric Martin, and Gavin Gunderson scored goals for the Nighthawks, while Brendan Bottem found the back of the net two times, sending the Nighthawks to an 8-3 win.
Niverville peppered the Blues net with 47 shots, and Ethan Kadatz played his second game in two nights, stopping 24 of 27 attempts on goal.
The Nighthawks improve to an 8-7 record (16pts) and currently occupy 4th place in the east, 5 points ahead of the Blues (5th), and 8 points behind the Winkler Flyers in 3rd (24pts).
The next games for the Nighthawks are against the Swan Valley Stampeders and OCN Blizzard as they head out on the road this coming Friday.