The Niverville Nighthawks got the best of the Winnipeg Freeze in a 6–1 win on the road on Sunday evening to close out their regular season. With the win, the Nighthawks finished the year in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 35–20–3.
Notably, in the final three-game winning streak, the Nighthawks managed to put up 16 goals in total offence.
The Nighthawks asserted their dominance over the last-place Winnipeg team right from the opening faceoff as the team scored twice in the first period, once in the second period, and three times in the third period.
Lucas Bertolin led the charge for Niverville with a pair of goals, while Sean Williams, Lane Apperley, Matteo Speranza, and Ryden Duchon had the other Nighthawks tallies. It was Duchon’s first MJHL goal.
Niverville’s Jake Torget stopped 23 shots in goal for the win.
“It was very good to close the regular season on the winning side of things,” says head coach Dwight Hirst. “I believe our two previous games with Portage were more of what we’d like to see structurally and fundamentally. But it’s nice to see the players play well individually in the games like tonight. However, at the end of the day, you want to just come out of the last game clean, healthy, and ready for the playoffs.”
The 2024–25 McMunn & Yates MJHL Turnbull Cup Playoffs are set to begin this week. In the first round, the Nighthawks will face the top-seeded Winkler Flyers. Stay tuned for a playoff preview in the coming days leading up to Game 1.
