Inconsistency leads Lincs to split back-to-back interconference games

Blake Elzinga backhands home a shorthanded goal in the St. Marys Lincolns’ 4-2 win over the Caledon Bombers on Oct. 3, his first goal of the season.

By Spencer Seymour

The St. Marys Lincolns have showed they can play some elite hockey, on par with any team in the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL). However, they haven’t yet displayed the consistency that separates the good teams and the great teams, and perhaps no two games summarize that missing consistency than their most recent back-to-back interconference games.

On Oct. 2, the Lincolns cratered in the second period when they visited the St. Catharines Falcons, ultimately losing 4-1. Head coach Jeff Bradley told the Independent his team’s inability to convert on their opportunities ended up biting the team in a big way.

“I actually liked our first period quite a bit,” said Bradley. “I thought they were opportunistic when we weren’t. We had plenty of scoring chances and good opportunities, but we just didn’t capitalize. And then, when you’re down 2-0 in the second, you’re one goal away from the game being very close to ending, and unfortunately, that’s what happened. I thought we showed some good effort in the third, and we showed we weren’t quitting, so I appreciated our effort in the third, but we can’t have a period like the second and expect to win.”

Despite the bench boss being satisfied with how his team performed in the first 20 minutes, the Lincolns found themselves down by two goals at the end of one period, with Calvin Petrovsky and Treyson Dewar scoring for St. Catharines.

Just over two-and-a-half minutes into the second, Liam Fisher found the back of the net for the Falcons. Fisher’s goal was the only goal of the period, thanks largely to the efforts of goaltender Brogan Colquhoun, who single-handedly prevented the game from becoming a total rout as St. Catharines dominated the Lincolns for the entire period.

According to Bradley, the Lincolns didn’t play with the same desire as the Falcons.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but I think it just came down to the fact that the other team came out wanting it more than we did,” Bradley said. “When you’re playing a good team that wants it more than you do, and when you spot a really good team two goals, you’re not going to win.”

In the third, with the lineup blender getting put to use by the Lincolns, St. Marys played their best hockey of the night, outshooting the Falcons 14-4 in the final frame. They got on the board with a goal from Ethan Weir with three minutes and 31 seconds left on the clock, but approximately a minute later, Sam Lockyer iced the game with an empty netter.

Blake Elzinga and Devun Colebrook earned the assists on Weir’s goal. Colebrook, along with Chase McDougall, were among the players who Bradley said earned more playing time when the coaching staff reconfigured the line combinations.

“We’re just trying to reward guys with ice time based on their play,” Bradley said. “So, you saw guys like Devun (Colebrook) and Chase (McDougall) get some extra ice time and move up in our lineup, and they earned those opportunities.”

Lincs bounce back against struggling Bombers

One night after their disappointing trip to St. Catharines, the Lincolns returned home and doubled up the fledgling Caledon Bombers by a score of 4-2.

Bradley noted he was happy with the team’s overall compete level.

“I felt like we played hard, and it doesn’t matter who we play; we want to have the mindset of going out and playing hard. When you do that, a lot of good things happen. I thought we played very well and it would have been nice to score a couple more goals, but I don’t think we gave them much chance to win.”

With exactly two minutes left in the opening period, Jacob Montesi one-timed home a pass from Ryan Hodkinson to open the scoring. Declan Ready also earned an assist.

Just 23 seconds into the second stanza, a setup pass by Voortman was slammed into the Bombers’ net by a heavy one-time blast by Hodkinson, his first goal since rejoining the Lincs. Less than two-and-a-half minutes later, Colebrook made it three straight games with a point when he buried his second goal of the year. Once again, Colebrook was a highlight for the Lincolns’ head coach.

“Devun (Colebrook) was really good,” Bradley said. “He just keeps getting in our good books and earning more opportunities and ice time. He’s had a slow and steady progression through this first part of the season. He competes really hard, he’s physical and he’s shown he has some skill as well.”

Micah Kraayenbrink stopped the bleeding for the Bombers with 23 seconds left in the second, but just over two minutes into the third, Elzinga scored on a shorthanded breakaway for his first goal of the year. A little over a minute later, Jason Kovalev potted a shorthanded tally for Caledon, but the Bombers never got any closer, with the Lincolns hanging on for a 4-2 victory.

Hometown 16-year-old netminder Vaughn Barr picked up his first GOHL win in the game, with Bradley mentioning Barr’s first career victory was a source of much-needed positivity.

“It’s the first of many for Vaughn (Barr), and we’re obviously happy for him,” said Bradley. “Hopefully, he can carry that on and build on it. He’s given us some great minutes and it’s nice to see him finally get rewarded. When we’re not winning as many games as we’d like, you get starved for something to cheer for, and seeing a young, local kid get that moment was great for him and great for the whole team.”

With three games in four days coming up for the Lincolns, including a trip to LaSalle on Oct. 8 followed by back-to-back games against London on Oct. 10 followed by a visit to Strathroy on Oct. 11, Bradley wants to see the team’s compete level find some consistency, and as a result, find more offence.

“It would just be nice to start scoring some more goals,” Bradley said. “The work ethic is there, but we’ve got to start putting the puck in the net. It’s obviously a tough thing to do, and I think we’re doing a lot of good things to put us in a position to score. I think we’re putting up a lot of shots and getting a lot of good opportunities, but we just have to find a way to start capitalizing on our chances. We’ve got three tough games to look forward to and we just want to make sure we’re competing every night as hard as we can. Hopefully, in doing that, we start putting some pucks into the net.”