Mason’s Eight-Minute Treble Stuns Falcons — Alpiners Win PHL Opener 3-2
The Central Falcons led 2-0 for 40 minutes. Then Baxter Mason happened.
Mason scored three times in the last eight minutes as the Alpiners came from behind to beat the Falcons 3-2 in the opening game of the men’s 2026 Premier Hockey League in Napier on Saturday. It was the second 3-2 win of the day for the Alpiners, after their women beat the Falcons by the same score in the earlier game.
Oscar Nation had given the Falcons the perfect start. He scored from a field goal in the 11th minute and converted it to make it 2-0, and for most of the game that looked like enough. The Falcons held the lead through the second and third quarters, and the Alpiners were running out of time.
Then the last eight minutes turned the game upside down. Mason pulled one back from a field goal in the 52nd minute, converted it a minute later to level at 2-2, and completed the treble with another field goal in the 59th minute. Three goals, eight minutes, game over.
That’s the kind of finish that defines a season’s opening weekend. The Falcons will be sick about it, and rightly so. They controlled the game for 40 minutes and had nothing to show for it. The Alpiners, meanwhile, take four points and top both early tables after the opening-day double in Napier.
For our money, Mason is the name to remember from this weekend. A treble in eight minutes, under pressure, to win a season opener, is the sort of thing that gets a player noticed. The PHL is short and sharp, four double-header weekends and a Grand Final in Christchurch on December 12, so there isn’t much time to make an impression. Mason just made his.
The league continues on Sunday in Auckland, where the Mavericks meet the Tridents at Lloyd Elsmore Park, the men at 3:00pm NZDT after the women’s game at 1:00pm.
The result and scorers are per the official match sheet.
