Ty Dilello – The Niverville Citizen
The Niverville Nighthawks are undefeated through the opening weekend of the new campaign as they dispatched the Waywayseecappo Wolverines 3–1 on Saturday night at the CRRC to boost their record to 2–0.
Lorette’s Merik Boles opened the scoring for Niverville just five minutes into the game. Kaycee Coyle then scored his first of the year in the dying moments of the opening frame to extend the lead.
Waywayseecappo would get one back late in the second period, but that’s as close as they got. Kyle Bochek scored for Niverville in the third period to seal the win for the home side.
For the second night in a row, Nighthawks head coach Kelvin Cech was quite pleased with his team’s performance.
“We were relaxed the whole game. Whether we were on the penalty kill or the power play, the guys did their job,” said Kelvin Cech. “Our penalty kill was awesome and didn’t allow a power play goal, which is great. And then the power play scored a big one, so it was just a professional effort. We just locked it down. It was an impressive and mature game from our players.”
Raiden LeGall stopped 38 shots in goal for the Nighthawks.
“Raiden came in and did exactly what Mike McAulay and I thought that he could do,” said Cech. “We’ve got two really good goalies that feel like luxuries to us. So he was awesome tonight, and we’re very proud of him.”
Cech was also quick to give credit to Merik Boles, the winner of the team’s Fan Favourite award. The coach says that Boles does a lot of things right on the ice and was rewarded with his first goal of the season tonight.
“Boles is a coach’s favourite as well. He’s on the ice with a minute left protecting the lead, and he kills penalties. He’s a professor and could coach this team if he wanted to, as he’s a very highly intelligent player. So it’s great that he was rewarded and scored a goal tonight, and I hope he keeps it going for us.”
The Nighthawks are back in action for a pair of road games next weekend, starting on Friday, September 29 against the Swan Valley Stampeders and then on Saturday, September 30 versus the OCN Blizzard.
“The guys will enjoy this one and have a day off on Sunday and then get back to work Monday,” said Cech. “We’ll have practices during the week and then hit the road. The weather should be okay, hopefully on the road, and the guys are excited to get back in action after this weekend’s games!”