Warriors impress at Provincials

Times Reporter   

 

After going undefeated in the round robin portion of the Provincial Championship, the Wheatland Warriors faced a familiar foe in the semifinals.

Despite holding a lead after 40 minutes, the local double-A bantam team was edged-out 6-5 by the Okotoks Oilers on March 16 in Edmonton.

The Oilers were the same team to defeat the Warriors earlier this season in league playoffs.

“It’s tough, but at the end of the day I’m pretty proud of the team. They accomplished a lot this weekend,” Warriors coach Mark Laycock said. “Our last round robin game against Calgary is a game I’ll never forget. It was pretty exciting.”

Against the Calgary NWCAA Bronks, the Warriors had a 1-0 lead after the first period on March 15. In the second, NWCAA scored four to take a commanding lead, even after Wheatland changed goalies from Matt Schafer to Ty Tarvyd.

“We just told the boys not to quit, and they stuck with it,” Laycock said. “It was pretty crazy. There was a little speech in the second intermission. Basically we told the boys, this is our last crack – this might be our last chance to play together as a team. They took that, and kind of ran with it.”

The excitement was short-lived, however, as the next day in the semi-final, Strathmore had a 4-0 lead in the second period. Okotoks suddenly scored three quickly before the end of 40 minutes. Both teams swapped their goalies.

“Matt was playing well, but it was maybe just a momentum shift. Once it was 4-3, you start to feel the pressure coming on,” Laycock said. “I know it’s frustrating. But it was kind of the same as the day before. You can’t quit, because anything can happen.”

The Oilers tied the game and took the lead in a 20 second span with less than three minutes remaining.

“I thought we had some really good scoring opportunities. When it was 4-2, there were a couple shifts there where we had them penned in their zone, with three or four quality scoring chances. We just didn’t put it in – their goalie made some good saves,” Laycock said.

In other round robin games, Wheatland tied Fort McMurray 3-3 on March 13, defeated the MLAC Brickmen on March 14 by a score of 4-2, and dominated the Red Deer Steel Kings 7-1 on March 15. With two wins and two ties in round robin, the Warriors were in a three-way tie with Fort McMurray and Calgary NWCAA. All three teams had the same goal totals, and because Calgary had the most penalty minutes of the three, they were not chosen to advance. 

Chayse Hnatowich led Wheatland with seven points in five tournament games, while Rylan Longmuir and Kyle Merkosky had four goals each.

“Overall it was a good season. Hopefully the boys learned a lot. When you finish first in league, you want to be in the finals and play for the rings, but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way,” Laycock said. “It was a great group of kids to coach. It was a lot of fun.”