Original Article

Something was missing from MICDS senior Jacob Lefton’s stellar night.

Teammate Nicholas Mellanby provided it.

Lefton recorded a hat trick and an assist, but it was Mellanby’s power play goal late in the third period that capped a three-goal comeback as MICDS earned a 6-6 tie against Fox in a Mid-States Club Hockey Association Central Division game at the Kennedy Ice Rink on Monday night.

“If we don’t get a point out of it (the hat trick doesn’t mean as much),” Lefton said. “It’s a team deal. That’s what we’re going for.”

Mellanby’s shot from the point found its way through traffic into the upper corner with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left in the third period. Mellanby is the son of Scott Mellanby, who played in the NHL with five different teams from 1986-2007.

“Good teams are built around comebacks like this,” MICDS coach John Mattingly said. “When you have your back up against the wall and you look back at games like this when you have successful seasons and see that was a situation where we were tested and we really showed what we were made of.”

Hugo Engelhardt and J.T. Williamson each had a goal and an assist for MICDS (3-3-1). Riley Clinton made 25 saves.

Jared Bratton and Jacob Horrall each scored twice for Fox (4-1-1). Alec Zoph and Mitchell Westbrock also scored, while Daniel Walters and Gavin Radle each had two assists and Kyle Turner made 35 saves.

Fox took control with a dominating start to the second period that featured three goals in the first 1:59 seconds to erase a 3-2 deficit.

Bratton got the Warriors going with his second of the game, taking advantage of a failed MICDS clearing attempt 20 seconds into the period.

“I think it was a lot of teamwork,” Bratton said. “We came together as a team and had to fight through adversity.”

Just seven seconds later, Zoph gave Fox a 4-3 lead off a pass from Walters.

Horrall scored his second of the game at 1:59 of the second, burying a perfect backhand feed from Radle to put the Warriors up 5-3.

“I think they got the jitters out and learned what they needed to do and learned from their mistakes,” Fox coach James Schaper said. “They came out hard.”

Westbrock gave the Warriors a three-goal advantage midway through the second, finishing on a quick passing sequence started by Alexander Spent and Radle.

Lefton stopped the bleeding for MICDS with a power play goal, his third of the game, with 3:21 left in the second to get MICDS closer at 6-4

Williamson got the Rams back to within one, burying a one-timer off of a feed from Nicholas Niemann with 53 seconds left in the second.

“Momentum is everything in hockey,” Mattingly said. “We felt we were playing well, we just weren’t getting the bounces and we knew it would eventually come.”

Fox got first-period goals from Horrall at 1:21 and Bratton at 9:08.

Engelhardt got MICDS on the board at 4:07 and Lefton scored twice in a 44-second span to give the Rams a 3-2 lead after the opening period. Lefton’s first, with 5:14 left, came after he forced a turnover at the Fox blue line and his second, with 4:30 remaining, found the back of the net after he dumped it in from neutral territory just beyond the blue line.

“Just trying to catch the goalie sleeping and see if we can get him off his game,” Lefton said of the second goal. “I guess it worked.”

Schaper said penalties hurt Fox. The Warriors took six penalties and allowed two power-play goals.

“They’re going to have to get a little tighter as a group and play a little better as a team,” Schaper said. “We’ve got a lot of talent. We just have to put it together.”