Wolves eliminated in WECSSAA boys hockey semi-final vs. Essex

when you go down by two goals.

“We did let up and didn’t battle hard in front of the net,” said Prieur.

The players thanked head coach Glen Holden for his work during the season and also said it was a good season, as they enjoyed being with their teammates throughout the 2022-23 season.

Holden said “it was a classic playoff battle” against Essex.

“We got into a bit of trouble in the second period,” said Holden. “We took some penalties and Essex capitalized. We couldn’t really recover from that.”

The Wolves lost some battles, Holden added, and when that happens he said it often ends up in the back of your own net.

North Star played a great game two days earlier in the 5-1 semi-final win in Leamington versus Cardinal Carter, said Holden.

By Ron Giofu

The season is over for the North Star Wolves boys hockey team.

The Wolves were eliminated from the WECSSAA playoffs last Wednesday afternoon by the Essex Red Raiders, as the latter won the semi-final match-up 6-3 on their home ice at the Essex Centre Sports Complex.

North Star took the lead in the first minute of the game on a goal from Wyatt Jackson but Essex tied it on a goal from Jacob Ranni.

Brett Jones gave North Star a 2-1 lead in the second period but Essex would score three times before the middle period was over, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Ranni would score two more goals with Luke Ward adding another.

Mateo Rivas got the Wolves back within a goal but a pair of empty net goals would seal the deal for Essex.

“It didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” conceded Rivas. “We let in a few in the second period and battled hard in the third period, but we couldn’t get the job done.”

Carter Prieur added they could have played better in the second period. He said a team with a good goalie like Essex is hard to come back on, especially

The Wolves’ coach added there is a lot of parity in the league this season, as anyone from seeds one through six could have made it out of WECSSAA.

In the end, Belle River won their sixth straight WECSSAA title by beating the Red Raiders 5-3 Monday afternoon in Essex.

As for his team, Holden said there will be a lot of new players next year. He said he loses both goalies and about 12 players overall to graduation.

“It’s going to be a bit of a retooling year (next year),” he said.

Holden called this year’s team “a good group to coach” and “they came to the rink wanting to get better.”