The Nova Bantams began the fifth week in the NSMBHL in a battle with the Dartmouth Whalers and the Pro Hockey Life Harbour Storm for league supremacy. “Going into this weekend, we knew we had to step it up a bit, and play better as a team,” offered head coach Kyle MacDonald. “So this week we spent some more time on our neutral zone play, and worked on our special teams. It’s those little things that can make all the difference between a win and a loss, and hopefully this weekend, all this work will grab us four big points,” said coach MacDonald. On Saturday afternoon at the Antigonish Arena against the Scotsburn Crushers, the Novas carried the play for a good portion of the game but some game-stealing saves from the Crushers goalie combined with shot-blocking heroics of the Crushers players throughout the game saw them come out on the wrong end of a 3-2 score. Darren Waterman and Jacob Hudson scored for the Novas; Logan Timmons notched a pair of assists with Ryan MacLellan and Stephen Fox rounding out the assist count. Kolby Baker and Colton Ellis shared the goaltending duties on Saturday and were both solid in the loss. On Sunday morning, at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, the Novas got behind the visiting Joneljim Cougars early but roared back with three unanswered goals to seal a 3-1 victory. Ryan MacLellan, Logan Timmons, and Logan Chisholm each had a goal, with Fearghus MacDonald , Malcolm MacEachern, Jacob Hudson, and Stephen Fox adding helpers. Colton Ellis made a number of great saves to pick up the win in Sunday’s game. “All in all, there were some good lessons this weekend that we hope the boys take to heart,” said Coach MacDonald. “They played a solid game on Saturday, but came up short against a determined team and goaltender. On Sunday, we could have easily folded the tent but they dug down deep and grabbed the two points. Our effort level actually was very consistent this entire weekend and the coaching staff is really pleased with the way the boys are playing as a team.” The Novas next see home action on October 18th when they take on the Bedford Barons at the Antigonish Arena; puck drop is slated for 5 PM.
GrayJay Sports
The Novas 
