After falling down to fourth place in the GNASH standings earlier this week, Montgomery Bell Academy was out to reassure their competition that The Big Red wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. A 9-1 victory against Independence/Summit Wednesday at the Centennial Sportsplex catapulted them back up to a tie for second place in the standings with Hendersonville with 19 points.

Despite the unanimous victory, MBA coach Tim Kovick thinks his team were a bit off and should have played with more discipline. Big Red players spent a total of 26 minutes in the penalty box, with nine penalties called against them.

“It wasn’t a very fun game to coach, and it probably wasn’t a fun game to play in,” said Kovick.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of hockey. There was a whole lot of guys running into each other, and nobody likes to see that. But, we have a lot of kids who can skate. And when we’re in these type of games, where there are some guys in the box, we have some guys who can come off the bench that can really play.”

Indy/Summit was also on the receiving end of some penalties, but half of them were misconducts as a result of their frustrations towards how MBA was playing.

“We expected a tough team, but didn’t expect it to be as chippy as it was. We’ve got to work on that,” said Indy/Summit coach Dan McLette.

“I thought our boys skated well, but not well enough for a team like that.”

Blake Robison scored twice for The Big Red, including a spectacular diving effort in front of net after receiving a long pass from Josh Morris. Cole Deal also scored twice, while Robert Cowan, Morris, Daniel Cowan, Michael Garcia, and Joshua Morin each chipped in a goal. Zach Giblin scored Indy/Summit’s lone goal on a power play halfway through the first period.

So now MBA have two more games to improve their position in the regular season and their seeding for the playoffs, with a game Jan 29 vs. the Tennessee Outlaws and their finale Feb 12 against Father Ryan.

“We have to play a little bit tighter defense” said Kovick.

“We have the goal scorers, but the three teams ahead of us have proven goalies. We just have to play better defense.”

Indy/Summit will finish their season with games against Father Ryan Jan 29, Ravenwood Feb 5, and PJPII-CPA Feb 12.