A late third period goal by Sam Boldt broke a tie and eventually lifted the Midget AAA Warriors to a 4-2, Game 1 victory over the Notre Dame Hounds at Mosaic Place Thursday night.

Warriors head coach Trevor Weisgerber said they didn't play their best game but were ok and they stuck with it.

“They force you to make mistakes, and they’ve got pressure on you at all times,” said Weisgerber. “I think hopefully after this Game 1, now that we see how hard they actually come, we start doing this a little bit quicker and we’ll be better in Game 2.”

Weisgerber said they do well in their building and use the bigger ice surface to their advantage.

“We’ll have to change up a couple things going in there, just to make sure we can keep them at bey, but ... I hope we know what’s coming now and that we do a better job.”

For his part, Boldt saw his chance when Lucius Schmidt moved the puck forward

“I saw him going up with the play and I decided to jump up, and he gave me a good pass and I saw an opening so I found it,” Boldt said. “Those are opportunities I should capitalize on. I was pretty excited.”

Atley Calvert scored the other three Warrior goals, including an empty netter. Chase Coward stopped 28 shots in the Warriors’ net.

It was the first night behind the bench for Weisgerber since his kidney transplant and the coach of the year award.

“It’s more of a team award,” he said. “We’ve got a great staff and you can’t do it without those guys, and then obviously having a good team. These guys are young and they bought in early. It’s a team thing and it’s nice to be honoured through your peers to get that.”

Game 2 goes Sunday night at Wilcox, while Game 3 is Monday at Mosaic Place.