The South Shore Lumberjacks entered the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Center this evening with their season on the line.
They walked out with a ticket to Round 2.
Powered by a three goal, five point performance from Mateo Short, the Lumberjacks defeated the Amherst Ramblers 8-2 in the seventh and deciding game of their Eastlink South Division Semi-Final series.
In a series that featured three overtime games and a several back and forth affairs, South Shore controlled the game early and cruised to their first playoff series win since 2016. Goals by Short, Adam Crowe and Aidan Casey helped propel the Lumberjacks to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Jordan King would reply for Amherst during the opening frame. Short’s second goal of the game would extend the lead to 4-1 after two periods. Finally, Logan O’Neil, Christian Tuskamoto, Casey and Short would continue the offensive barrage for South Shore in the final period. Layton Parsons would round out the scoring for Amherst early in the third. With his offensive outburst, Short enters round two of the MHL playoffs as the top postseason scorer in the league with eight goals and 13 points. MacKenzie Janes stopped 36 shots for the Lumberjacks while Joel Goguen made 29 saves for the Ramblers.
The Lumberjacks now await the winner of the Eastlink South Division Semi-Final series between the Yarmouth Mariners and Truro Bearcats. The seventh and deciding game of that series takes place tomorrow night at 7PM at Mariners Center. The Bearcats forced a seventh game in the series by defeating the Mariners 6-2 on Sunday night in Truro.
The participants in the Eastlink North Division Final series have already been determined. The Edmundston Blizzard will battle the Summerside Western Capitals in that best of seven showdown. Game 1 takes place on Saturday night in Edmundston with puck drop set for 7:30PM.
Tomorrow’s Game 7 from Yarmouth – as well as all other games of the 2018 MHL Playoffs – can be viewed at mhl.hockeytv.com.
Will MacLaren – themhl.ca