By Bill Burfoot
It may not have been the prettiest win, but the Niverville Nighthawks stayed perfect to improve their season to 3–0 with a gritty 3–2 overtime victory versus the Portage Terriers on Wednesday night at the CRRC.
Dawson Zeller was the hero, capping off the night with his second goal of the game. The 19-year-old forward from St. Andrews, Manitoba redirected a perfect feed from Aaron Krestanowich, sealing a hard-fought win for the Nighthawks in front of a loud home crowd.
“We’ve talked a lot about resiliency and staying in the fight,” says head coach Dwight Hirst. “It wasn’t a full 60 on our part, and that’s three games now we haven’t put together a full 60 minutes, but I thought we stuck with the plan and came away with a big two points.”
Sluggish Start, Strong Finish
The Nighthawks were slow out of the gate, and Portage made them pay early. Just 2:16 into the first period, Wyatt Dreger gave the Terriers a 1–0 lead, finishing off a slick passing play from Drayden Uhrina on a three-on-three rush before sliding the puck between the legs of an outstretched Austin Dubinsky.
Niverville responded midway through the first period with Kole Mears picking up a loose puck behind the Portage net and dishing a backhand pass to Zeller in the slot. Zeller ripped a shot over the glove of Terriers netminder Donavan Bodnar to tie the game at one goal apiece.
The Terriers regained the lead late in the second period after a miscue in the Nighthawks’ zone. Rhett Platt intercepted a clearing attempt and found a wide-open Trevor Hill in the left circle, who beat Dubinsky high on the glove side to make it 2–1.
