The Melfort Mustangs have a shot at Junior A hockey supremacy after a 4-3 win over the Trenton Golden Hawks at the Centennial Cup on Saturday.
The win means Melfort will face the host Calgary Canucks in the final on Sunday. The two teams met in the opening game of the Centennial Cup, with Calgary besting Melfort 3-1.
“We have unfinished business, that’s for sure,” Mustangs assistant coach Tye Scherger said after the game. “The boys are driven and excited. You have two great fan bases and we’ll be ready to go.”
Zac Somers scored the game-winner with 6:54 left in the third period to send the Mustangs into the Centennial Cup final. Somers’ goal was a bitter pill to swallow for the Golden Hawks, who battled back from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to tie the game up at three.
“It stings,” Golden Hawks head coach Derek Smith said in a press release. “It hurts. We’ve come so far this year, and I’m super proud of this group; from the players and staff to ownership and our fans. It’s tough to put into words right now.”
The Mustangs struck first with a power play goal from captain Ty Thornton nearly seven minutes into the first period. Nolan Patterson then made it 2-0 on a breakaway just 47 seconds into the second.
Melfort looked to be in total control when Trenton’s Devin Mauro took a roughing penalty roughly three minutes later, but a Corbin Roach shorthanded goal cut the lead to one. Cooper Matthews then tied it up 13:39 into the second.
The Mustangs returned the favour with a short-handed goal of their own from Tristin Ziola near the end of the second, but Mauro replied for the Golden Hawks just 18 seconds later tying the game up at three.
The two teams played a scoreless third until Somers struck with 6:54 to play. Somers took a pass in the slot from Logan Belton and fired a shot over the outstretched glove of Golden Hawks goaltender Ryan Sanborn for the winner.
“We came out and played the way we wanted to in the first period,” Scherger said. “The second period was a bad period and not the way we play. The biggest thing is we managed to flip the switch in the intermission, and the third period was more like the way we play. It was a character win.”
“We played a really resilient Melfort team that’s had a lot of success this year and they’re well coached,” Smith said. “It was a chess match today – there wasn’t a lot of five-on-five opportunities and special teams were huge. When it’s that tight, one offensive execution play can change the game and with eight minutes left, next goal wins. Give (Melfort) credit, they played well.”
Kristian Coombs made 18 stops in the Melfort goal to earn the win, while Sanborn made 16 saves for Trenton.
The Mustangs will have a chance to avenge their only loss of the 2025 Centennial Cup when they take on the hosts. Calgary defeated Melfort 3-1 in the opening game of the tournament, scoring three unanswered goals after the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead.
The Canucks needed overtime on Saturday to defeat the Rockland Nationals 3-2. As with their game against Melfort, the Canucks overcame an early deficit for the win.
“We’re used to being down,” Canucks forward Hayden Fechner said in a press release. “Honestly, every game in (the) playoffs we were pretty much down, but we’re always confident we can get the win, and we did tonight.”
Sunday’s final begins at 5 p.m. at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary.
It will be the Mustangs’ second straight appearance in the Centennial Cup final. They lost 1-0 to the OJHL’s Collingwood Blues in 2024.
