NORTON SHORES – You’ll have to forgive the Mona Shores hockey team if it quickly moved on mentally after beating Reeths-Puffer 7-1 in a Division.2 regional semifinal at Lakeshore Sports Centre on Saturday.
The Sailors immediately put their attention to Byron Center, the team they will face in the regional final (also at Lakeshore) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
They have a bone to pick with that team.
That matchup is a repeat of the 2021 regional final, when Mona Shores lost a 3-2 heartbreaker after giving up two late goals, ending its season on a sour note.
[1]“The team has been thinking about it a lot,” said Sailor junior forward Jake Nanna, who scored two goals on Saturday. “We played them earlier this season and it was a really close game, too.”
Mona Shores beat Byron Center 6-5 in December, but Coach Chris Benedict doesn’t think that outcome matters much at this point.
“They’re a different team and we’re a different team,” said Benedict, whose team improved to 22-4 on the season. “But they know our players and we know their players. We’ll get their best game, and they’ll get ours. It’ll be a hell of a matchup.”
The Sailors completed a three-game season sweep when they beat Reeths-Puffer on Saturday.
[2]Goals from Trent Benedict, Jack Reelman and Landon Taylor gave Mona Shores at 3-0 lead at the first intermission.
Zach Leibrandt and Nanna scored in the second period to give Mona Shores a 5-0 lead, before Reeths-Puffer’s Isaiah Winters scored the lone Rocket goal later in the period.
Ty Langlois scored with a goal with 37 seconds left in the second to give Mona Shores a 6-1 lead headed into the third.
Nanna capped off the scoring with a goal at the 11:31 mark of the third to make the score 7-1.
[3]Mona Shores outshot Reeths-Puffer 52-9. Sailors goalie Keldon Boone picking up with win with eight saves.
“We really emphasized playing a full 51 minutes,” Benedict said. “I thought we did a nice job of it tonight. We always have things were trying to fine-tune. I don’t think we played great. We made several mistakes, but there is always something. Hockey is a game of mistakes and the team that capitalizes on them is usually going to win.”
After a long season of success, Nanna is confident the Byron Center regional showdown will have a different outcome this year.
“It’s a big revenge thing for us,” he said. “I think we’ll come out on top, but I’m sure they’re probably saying the same thing. We’ll put the work in and make sure we do what we have to do to get the win.”