6 point weekend for the Northstars

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In a close battle, the Northstars defeated the visiting Melbourne Ice 4-3 Sunday afternoon. At the end of period one, the two teams were tied with the opening goal from Melbourne Ice’s Josh Walt, answered by Northstars Tanner Butler.
 
In the second period, the Northstars scored three unanswered goals, with Francis Drolet securing one and Butler netting two and getting a hattrick. This gave the Northstars a 4-1 lead going into the second-period break.
 
Melbourne Ice fought back in the third with two unanswered goals by Mackenzie Caruana and Roman Kraemer, but the Northstars held them out to secure the victory in regulation time.
 
Head Coach Kevin Noble reflected on the game, sharing, “There are lots of things to say about that game, but the main thing is that we got the job done. That’s it. Three points are three points, and it’s always a positive to have a six-point weekend at home.”
 
“Melbourne brought a strong game tonight, credit to them. They didn’t have their full roster with two of their top imports out and some guys back home, but they brought their best game,” shared Northstars Captain Liam Manwarring.
 
“Our special teams were good again today. It wasn’t our best game, but when you win with the special teams, you can win the game, and we did that tonight,” continued Noble.
 
“Teams come here and bring their best game, and if we don’t bring ours, we can get caught out easily. Once again, we started a bit flat, and they brought it to us, but we got the W, and we need games like that through the season that are close ones to feel what it’s like to be comfortable in a tight game and pick up on the little things we need to work on to win a tight game,” stated Manwarring.
 
“Our guys get a huge bump from the crowd. I say all the time that this is such a great place to play, and other teams get to enjoy this level our crowd brings too,” Noble reflected, “Sometimes it’s hard being a Northstar because teams will bring their best. Melbourne did that tonight, and we were a victim of our own doing a little bit through tonight's game, and we will get back to training and sort that out.”
 
Next week, the Northstars take on the Ice Dogs at Macquarie Ice Rink, “Sydney is always a tough place to play; they are a cross-town rival, and it will be another tough game for us for sure,” said Noble.
 
“This week, we go back to work, and I think going on the road now for the next couple of weeks is going to be good for us because we haven’t seen much of on the road, and we need to get comfortable with that because the big games at the end of the year for finals are played on the road, and we need to get everything right now, so we can bring home the championship,” Manwarring shared.