Merchants Continue Unbeaten Record at Luther Vipond Memorial Arena

By Mark Stehlin

The Owen Sound NorthStars made the trek south last night to take on the Brooklin Merchants. The NorthStars entered the contest with a record of (2-0) while the Merchants (3-1) looked to continue their winning ways at home.

Mark Debrone took the reins behind the bench as Ryan Degerdon was unavailable for this contest.

Scoring by period was 6-3, 8-4 and 3-3 as the Merchants took the win by a final of 17-10. The game was close for a while as the NorthStars clawed back to within one goal with five minutes off the clock in the middle frame. That was as close as they got as the Merchants reeled off six straight to take a 14-7 lead into the second intermission.

Debrone did a good job behind the bench as he carried out the season plan set by himself and Degerdon.

He said after the game “we are trying to set goals for ourselves and one of those is to win every period”. So, while the visitors drew close in that middle frame, Debrone said “when push came to shove, I reminded the players of the plan and they responded again and again and again” to shut down their opponent. The game got a little heated at times and again Debrone was clear “the natural reaction is to push back but this team has talent and smarts and we aren’t going play that game, we can be tough when needed but the talent in that room is our priority”.  Looking ahead to next weekend with a visit to Owen Sound, Debrone said “we expect more of the same, each and every game is to continue working the plan and see where that leads us”.

Leading the way on the scoreboard for the Merchants were Parker Pipher, Devon Pipher, Kellen Pulera and Christian Watts with three each, a pair for Ed Renaud and Darren Elliott, and one for John Wheller. Ryan Schuetzkowski took the win in net.  

Next up for the Merchants is the road trip to Owen Sound on Saturday May 25 at 4:00 p.m. and then on Friday May 31 at 8:00 p.m. they host Clearview at Iroquois Park Sports Centre.  The Merchants have a ticket special that night, allowing children 13 years and under in for free and for others, they are offering a “Pay What You Can” ticket.