Knights even high school hockey final (11 photos)

Looking to rebound after a disappointing loss in the series opener, the St. Mary’s Knights did just that and evened up the city high school hockey final at one in the process.

Dale Armstrong scored a pair of goals as the Knights beat the Korah Colts 3-1 at the John Rhodes Community Centre.

The game was a stark contrast from the series opener for the Knights.

“We used our skill to our advantage and our speed game was really in play,” said Knights coach Mike Oliveira. “We lacked that in the first game. We didn’t transition well up the ice. Today we were able to use our speed through the neutral zone and spend a little more time in the offensive zone.”

Oliveira said he saw a “big change” in his team on Saturday night.

“We’re a very young team and we have a lot of guys who aren’t used to playing in big, important games,” Oliveira said. “We played a little bit nervous, a little bit passive in the first game.”

Armstrong finished the day with two goals and an assist while Colby Arbour had the other goal for the Knights.

Ty Zachary had the lone goal for Korah.

“For the most part we didn’t have our legs,” Korah coach Greg Arbour said. “We were a little nervous out of the gate. It was a scrambly game and sometimes that can turn into nerves. They were beating us to 50/50 pucks all over the ice.

“We sustained a forecheck in the third period and created some opportunities, but we have to be better,” Arbour added. “That’s not good enough.”

The series is set to resume on Monday for Game 3. Puck-drop at the John Rhodes Community Centre is set for 3:30 p.m.

Prior to Saturday’s game, the league honoured its award winners.

Korah’s Dawson Hunter was named the most valuable player and combined with Sean Zago to post the league’s top combined goals-against total.

Zachary and Tyler Greco of CASS shared the rookie of the year award.

Mateo Perri was named the league’s top defenceman.

Armstrong led the league in scoring and earned the award for combining academic and on-ice performance.

Ethan Johnson of Superior Heights and Michael Shaw of CASS shared to most gentlemanly player award.