Mlsna comes up big late in Trojans win over SJJ

Findlay High's hockey team got off to about as good of a start as it could've wished for considering it hadn't played a game since January 29.The Trojans were up 2-0 over Toledo St. John's early into the second period after Michael Armstrong found the back of the net twice.After such a good start, FHS eventually squandered its lead.Over the next 11:45 in the middle frame, the Titans tied things up at two goals apiece after the first 30 minutes.But it's about how you finish and for the Trojans, that was pretty good.Ethan Lammers gave them the go-ahead goal just over a minute into the third period and Findlay was able to fend off an onslaught of shots on goals in the last minute to win, 3-2, over SJJ on Wednesday. "They've got that no-quit attitude that good teams have," Findlay's head coach Ben Patey said."I thought we were kinda flat there to start the game, but when you don't have a game in nine or ten days, that's to be expected. But once we got our legs, I thought we played our game."That no-quit attitude the Trojans' (16-7-4) started and ended with was who was in at goalie.Cody Mlsna.The senior might've given up two goals in the second period, but when his team needed him the most, he delivered and then some.After the Titans opted to pull their goalie, Wyatt Farmer, with a little more than a minute left in regulation, Mlsna arguably saved his best for last.He made two gloves saves and two pad saves while SJJ had an extra attacker and stonewalled the Titan offense.As hectic as it may have been for the Trojans and especially Mlsna, he likes those challenges."I think it helps when they're high-pressure moments just because you know every shot's gonna count, every moment's gonna count," he said. "If you shy up, even for just a second, you'll regret it the rest of the game.""He's been phenomenal for us all season long. It's almost like par for the course now because we're used to him doing that on a consistent basis," Patey said of Mlsna's play."To win a good amount of hockey games in this league, that's what you need is good goaltending and we've had that all year from our guys."The high level of intensity during those high-pressure moments found its way to Findlay's power-play killing unit, which was 2-for-2 on killing SJJ's power-play opportunities."When you kill a penalty, I always say that it gives you momentum," Patey said. "I felt when we killed them both times, that it did. Credit to our guys, I challenged them to be aggressive and they certainly were."In their last 16 games, the Trojans are 13-1-2 and despite his team giving up a two-goal lead and looking rusty to start, Patey likes what he's seen from his guys during this stretch."Obviously we haven't been great every night, but we've done enough to get the wins and that's what great teams do," he said. "We come into every game with the mentality of expecting win and that's due to the great leadership we have in the room."