Bright season ends in road playoff defeat
Battle Mountain wins 6-1.
EAGLE – The end didn’t justify the means or the growth.
So Mullen’s 6-1 loss to host Battle Mountain on Wednesday night in the first round of the Colorado playoffs made for a disappointing finale as well as a late ride home from the Rocky Mountains and a very early wake-up call on Thursday.
But for a program that was 1-18 just a couple of years ago, hadn’t had anything close to a winning season in six years and finally had enough interest to begin a junior-varsity squad, a 10-8-2 showing couldn’t be diminished.
“It’s hard to swallow after the season we had,” Mustangs head coach Devon Brady said of Wednesday’s game. “But the experience we got out of it, yeah, it was good. Playoff hockey is different than in the regular season and we didn’t match it. We reverted back to our old selves in terms of discipline issues.”
The difference in shots certainly helped to tell the story – Mullen was outshot 51-13 for the game, 40-11 over the first two periods. And even though the Mustangs left the ice after 17 minutes trailing only 1-0, they came unglued in the second period by giving up four goals and being whistled for enough penalties to fill a statistics sheet.
“It was bad,” Brady said. “You know, we have struggled all year when teams kind of ramp it up on us. It’s playoff hockey and we couldn’t match the level (the Huskies) started with and I think we survived a little.”
Despite only two shots on goal in a chippy third period, Utah Bryant (assisted by Larry Simons) allowed Mullen to avoid a shutout with a late goal.
Mustangs junior goalie Connor Mahon probably wanted Battle Mountain’s first goal back, just 1 minute, 6 seconds in, one in which he didn’t protect the far post on a wrap-around, but, as Brady said, “he hadn’t let one in like that all year and we had a defensive breakdown.”
Afterward, Mahon was his usual wall self, including stopping a couple of breakaways and surviving multiple shorthanded situations. He didn’t have much chance to stop the pucks that got past him as the Huskies, now 11-5-3 and who will take on Denver East in the second round, constantly had the Mustangs on their heels.
Backup goalie Dominic Maurais played the third period and stopped 10-of-11 shots as well as a 2-on-none.
Mullen, dominated by underclassmen, will lose only two seniors for next season, notably captain and defenseman John Witwer, so lots of material will return.
The jump from also-ran to playoff qualifier was significant and the Mustangs are already thinking about taking the next step.
“We did great,” Brady said.
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