Panthers abandon speed game in South final loss

It wasn’t Lawrence Park Panthers hockey and the result proved it.

The Humberside Huskies defeated the Panthers 5–2 to capture the Tier 1 South Region boys hockey title on March 6 at North Toronto Arena. It was Humberside’s second consecutive South championship.

High intensity and tons of physical play dominated the contest, a style Lawrence Park is not used to playing, said head coach Alex Ivan.

The coach said the referee tucked his whistle away for most of the game and his players got caught up with trying to make a hit instead of scoring some goals.

“I think the style of the way the game was called is something we’re not accustomed to,” Ivan said. “There were two no-goals calls without an explanation why and that got the boys frustrated.

“Our guys usually out skate anybody, but we’re just not a big physical team,” he added. “When it goes that route, we have to rely on finesse but we got wrapped up into getting some penalties.”

The first period was evenly contested until the Huskies broke the deadlock late in the frame. Humberside’s Jordi Stevens-Hall beat Lawrence Park goalie Nick Manaikas on a breakaway with just 56 seconds left in the first.

The Huskies tripled their lead late in the second with two goals in one minute and 21 seconds. Aldus Behan made it 2–0 when he picked up a rebound off the backboards and beat a helpless Manaikas.

Humberside defender David Evans saw his wrist shot beat Manaikas high on the glove side on the power play for a 3–0 advantage. Lawrence Park got to within two courtesy a Rob Silverstein goal, but Stevens-Hall scored two more times for a hat-trick and to seal a Huskies win.

Panthers’ forward Griffen Moore rounded out the scoring with a power play marker with just over a minute remaining.

Manaikas made 15 saves in a losing effort for Lawrence Pack. Back-up goalie Holden Berry also saw some action late in the second and third periods for the Panthers, turning aside four shots.

Tommy Wilson was a force in the Humberside net making 30 saves to pick up the win.