The Caribou CBR Brave responded to their loss last weekend in the strongest possible way, defeating the Central Coast Rhinos 10-0.
As a gorgeous Canberra winters day gave way to a bitterly cold winters night, the Brave faithful descended on the Brave Cave in large numbers for a Sunday game against the cellar dwellers.
The travelling Rhinos struggled to settle into the game early in the first period and the Brave took advantage by parking themselves in their offensive zone and peppering Andrew Masters in the Rhinos goals with shots. It became a matter of when, not if, the Brave would take the lead. After 5 minutes of sustained pressure, Canberra made the breakthrough through former captain Matt Harvey.
Any hope for a reprieve by the Rhinos players was short lived as the Brave were on the ice to prove a point and they did not let up applying the pressure. Casey Kubara and Austin Albrecht both scored before the end of the first to send both teams to the sheds at period break with the Brave well and truly on top, albeit the Rhinos did improve to get a few shots off themselves towards the end of the first, but Alex Tetreault stood strong in goals.
The second and third periods produced much of the same as the first. Overall, the Brave dominated the play, possession and ice position.
The Rhinos were creating more chances themselves but not enough to get past a hot goaltender in Tetreault, he was on fire. Alex made some big saves in the second and third periods and looked like a man on a mission to secure a rare shutout for the Caribou CBR Brave.
Sharpshooter Austin Albrecht completed his hat-trick, but the biggest goal cheer of the night came when local youngster Joey Maatouk scored the home team’s tenth and final goal with around 3 minutes left on the clock in the third period. The Cave erupted in noise and celebration. There was also special praise given by the fans for Ricki Miettinen, who assisted his second goal of the night for his first points of his fledgling career.
Upon the final siren sounding, the Brave had won comfortably, securing a 10-0 victory, and the players rushed over to Alex Tetreault to congratulate him on his maiden career shutout. A job well done and the team back on track leading into the final five games of the regular season before finals.
Written by: Sean O’Connor
