North Star High School boys hockey team picks up third straight victory

By Ron Giofu

The North Star Wolves boys hockey team keep rolling.

The Wolves returned from the exam break and recorded a 7-4 win over the Cardinal Carter Cougars last Thursday afternoon at the Libro Centre. The win improves the Wolves’ record to 4-1-1 on the 2022-23 WECSSAA Cullen Conference season. Tiago Gonclaves led the way with a hat trick while Declan McGrath added a pair of goals in the win.

The game was originally scheduled to be played Jan. 12, but was postponed due to fog cancelling buses that day.

North Star built a 4-1 lead after two periods with Brett Jones, McGrath, Kyle Jones and Gonclaves scoring. The teams scored three goals apiece in the third period with the Wolves’ goals coming from McGrath and two from Gonclaves.

“We finished, which was nice to see,” said North Star head coach Glen Holden.

This was the third time the Wolves scored seven goals or more in a game. They beat Lajeunesse 7-3 back on Dec. 1 and also recorded an 11-0 win over Tecumseh Vista Academy Jan. 11.

Holden said their defense was “a little bit soft at times” but credited the opposition as well.

“They are a good team over there,” Holden said of Cardinal Carter. “There’s a reason they were ahead of us in the standings, but there is a lot of parity in this league so we have got to be ready to play hard every game.”

Holden said his own team is a good one and the players are starting to buy in.

“I think they are starting to realize they are a good team. We are starting to see more compete from them,” he said. “They are starting to do the little things to win hockey games.”

“We were rolling,” added Carter Prieur. “We were buzzing all game.”

Prieur added they are working harder and their effort has increased.

“We’re slowly getting on the same page,” he said. “Everyone is working harder.”

Gonclaves said the game against Cardinal Carter was “a little chippier” than they were anticipating.

“We played pretty well,” said Gonclaves. “I listened to my coach, got to the soft spots and the puck went in.”

Leaders are stepping up and helping the team move forward, he added. Defensively, Gonclaves said they have to do a better job picking up players in front of the net. That will come with lots of practice.”

The Wolves hit the road for a game against Riverside yesterday (Feb. 7), after this issue of the River Town Times went to press. North Star then heads to Lakeshore today (Feb. 8) for a 3:15 p.m. game versus the Belle River Nobles before finishing the regular season next Tuesday in Essex, with that game scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

Wolves wrap up the WECSSAA Tier 2 boys basketball regular season tonight

Continued from Page 14

There were two practices after the exam break heading into least week’s game and the Wolves got additional game action at a tournament last weekend hosted by Riverside Secondary School.

Morujo stated the 27 points he scored were the most he can ever recall scoring in a single game.

“I think I played pretty well,” he said, adding “it was a good team effort.”

Morujo believed the win against Walkerville was important for North

Star as they look to clinch a playoff berth and build momentum. The win against the Tartans was the third straight for the Wolves and Morujo said they are looking to keep the strong play going. He pointed out their two practices before last Thursday evening’s game.

“We had a little bit of time to prepare for them,” he said. “I thought we played pretty well.”

The Wolves edged Belle River 63-62 Monday, with the visiting Nobles clawing back after being down 39-28 at

2023 Interim Tax Notice

2023 Interim Tax Notice

the half and 49-44 after three quarters.

The Nobles had a chance to tie it at the buzzer as a foul was called on North Star on a three-point attempt but only two of three free throws were made.

“That was a really good game from both teams,” said Pelger.

Pelger added they went 2-2 in the Riverside tournament last weekend and built chemistry as a team. They were missing two players due to injury as well Monday night.

Rhys Sharman added the Belle River game “shouldn’t have been that close” as they had leads of at least ten points at various times. That said, winning a close game was good for them.

“I’d say it is a pretty good confidence boost,” said Sharman, adding the playoffs will likely have close games.

Sharman added they expected a competitive game versus Belle River, adding “they put up a pretty good fight.”North Star was also in action yesterday (Feb. 7) on the road at L’Essor and wraps up the regular season this afternoon (Feb. 8) with a home game against the Kingsville Cavaliers.