St. Max Mustangs battling in all three YRAA hockey finals

March 1, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The St. Maximilian Kolbe Mustangs were dealt their first taste of defeat on Monday in the YRAA postseason.
After cruising through St. Elizabeth in the York Region semifinals last week, the men’s team met the St. Theresa of Lisieux Lions in the first game of a best-of-three finals on Monday, in front of a large Lions crowd in Richmond Hill.
The Lions went up early in the game 2 – 0, with the score sitting at 3 – 1 heading into the third period. St. Max cut the deficit to one with just under five minutes remaining, but were shut down by a trap-style defense by the Lions the rest of the way.
Looking to rebound from a first-round upset at the hands of the Newmarket Raiders last season, this year’s crop of Mustangs once again entered the playoffs among the favourites to take home the district title.
Just one point back of St. Theresa of Lisieux for the tier one standings lead, St. Max lost just once in the final four games of the season to earn a 3-2-3 record.
The series continues Thursday with Game Two being played at the Stronach Aurora Rec Complex.
On the women’s side, the Mustangs have opened up a one-game lead in their YRAA finals over Markham District after a solid 5 – 1 win Monday at Markham Village Arena.
Both teams swept their semifinal opponents to reach this year’s final, which is the third straight for the Mustangs. They will be looking to cap off their second straight YRAA crown later this week.
Game Two goes Thursday at the Aurora Family Leisure Complex.
The future is also looking bright for the Mustangs, who are competing in the men’s junior final against St. Theresa of Liseux. They outscored Brother Andre 11 – 2 over their two-game semifinal series to reach the championship, which kicked off Wednesday following press time.