The Niverville Nighthawks pulled off a big win on the road on Friday evening as they outlasted the Neepawa Titans 4–3 in overtime.
Ty Kennett got the Nighthawks on the board halfway through the first period. After Neepawa tied the game in the second frame, Carter Spirig then scored to give Niverville a 2–1 lead heading to the third period.
Neepawa came out strong in the third with a pair of goals to take a 3–2 lead.
However, the Nighthawks wouldn’t stop fighting and were rewarded when Ben Whitford scored for Niverville to tie the game at 3–3 and send it to overtime.
Josh Paulhus gave the Nighthawks a happy ending to their night, scoring in overtime to give Niverville the win.
“To get one of our first overtime wins in franchise history, it was a happy bus for sure coming home,” said Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech. “When you get to this time of the year, the points mean so much, and it’s great that we’re in the lead for a playoff spot. The Winnipeg Blues, who are chasing us, had a big win tonight too, so it’s great that we won.”
The Nighthawks know the importance of every single game for the rest of the season as they battle to make the playoffs in their inaugural season.
It’s going to be a grind, but Cech believes his group has what it takes to reach its full potential and achieve their team goals.
“We believe that the league is strong and anyone can beat anyone, but we also believe in the guys that we have here and believe that if we play the right way, more often than not we’ll get the results. We focus on our habits, and if we get to our identity, the score will take care of itself most nights.”
The Nighthawks are back in action tonight (Saturday) at the CRRC in a rematch against the Neepawa Titans. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m.
“There are always things we can do to get better,” said Cech. “We lost the special teams battle again for the second straight game, so we can take a look at things there. But five-on-five we liked our game a lot, so we’ll try to give the guys a clear and concise message for tomorrow’s game and keep it going.”
