Last season, Brentwood and MBA battled in a hard-fought, best-of-three series for the Preds Cup. The Bruins hoisted the Cup at the end of it all, however, it was clear this had become the “it” rivalry in high school hockey.
Fast forward to the beginning of the 2018 GNASH season, and MBA got its revenge on Brentwood, hammering the Bruins 6-0 at Centennial Sportsplex on Monday.
“We love playing against Brentwood,” MBA coach Tim Kovick said. “We lose a lot to them, we win some games against them, but we always know they’re going to be clean, hard-fought games and positionally-sound games.”
MBA jumped out to an early 2-0 in the first period on goals from Will Morrsion – assisted by Tyler Laub – and captain Matthew Haley – assisted by Morrison. From there, Brentwood never recovered.
“When you get an unexpected lead, it allows your kids to not have to press as much,” Kovick said. “We have two freshman goalies and they’re really quality kids and goalies. But they haven’t ever faced a high school shot. So, we’ve got to be sound in front of them. We have some senior leadership in our defensive pairings and it shows because we work from the back end out on this team.”
MBA extended its lead to 3-0 on a Ben Lindsey goal in the second period before adding on three more goals in the third period. Brennan Roach netted two of those goals with Laub recording the other.
“Brentwood was just giving us a lot of space and a lot of time, so we were able to slow it down,” Haley said. “It helped me see the guys, find a pass and find a lane for them to make a good shot.”
Five MBA players recorded multi-point nights with Laub (2), Morrison (2), Haley (2), Lindesy (2) and William Myers all contributing assists. Jack Moschel got the start in goal, stopping all 18 shots he faced.
“We always start with our defense first,” Haley said. “We’re built from the backend, so if we’re able to generate offense and get it going early, it just makes it a lot easier on us.”
“I believe four out of our six goals had secondary assists, that’s huge,” Kovick added. “When you’re playing against a quality team like Brentwood, they’re sound, so you need a lot of kids to be able to create a decent shot for you.”
MBA is in a three-way tie for first place in the GNASH standings with a 2-0-0 record and four points, while Brentwood is in a seven-way tie for second with a 1-1-0 record and two points.
Both return to the ice next week; MBA on Monday against USN/DCA/MLK at 7 p.m. and Brentwood on Wednesday against Centennial/Page at 7:10 p.m. Both games are at Centennial Sportsplex.
