Warriors keep on rolling

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Wheatland Warriors continued their winning ways as they improved to 9-3 on the season with a 5-1 victory over Red Deer on Nov. 2 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Assistant coach Carl Knudsen likes how the team is piling on the wins but knows they need to have a full 60-minute effort.
“We ended up with the 5-1 win so we can’t be too mad at their efforts. The first period was pretty slow and had to kick them in the butt to get them going,” said Knudsen of the local double-A bantam team. “We had a pretty good second and third period but we’re starting to play some pretty good teams. We’re going to need to play a full 60 minutes every night.”
The Warriors will need to work hard every game to get results if they are to stay atop the standings.
“So that is what it comes down to. Having guys work hard and all the small things will add up,” said Knudsen. “When guys are laying the body it seems like we catch a few turnovers and that’s when things come easier, we get a lot more scoring opportunities.”
Jordan Hansen scored twice, while Conner Bertamini, Justin Crnkovic and Mitchell Fawcett also tallied for the Warriors.
The Warriors will begin a six-game road trip starting with a pair of games against Bow Valley on Nov. 7 (7 p.m.) and the following day at 4:15 p.m. The team will then travel to Lacombe on Nov. 9 (4:30 p.m.).
Meanwhile, Wheatland Chiefs won at home on Friday night versus the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2.
Head coach Devin Olson had nothing but praise for his team in what was a tightly contested game.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Olson. “We outplayed them the first period, the second was back and forth and in the third we dominated, shutting Lethbridge right down in both ends. It was very good to see us pulling off a win in a tight game.”
Jayden Smith led the way with two goals while Kaleb Robinson and Ryan Skytt scored for the local double-A midget team.
The Chiefs next game is Nov. 5 in Calgary against the CRAA Gold (7:30 p.m., result not available as of press time) and then back at Strathmore Family Centre against Cranbrook (7:30 p.m.) on Friday, Nov. 7.
Meanwhile, the Wheatland Braves won 9-1 on the road in Red Deer on Nov. 2.
Kyle Crnkovic notched four goals, while Bryce Benfield, Nolan Bailey, Adam Kirkpatrick, Kage Yellowfly and Kyle Bray rounded out the scoring for the local double-A peewee team.
The Braves next game is Friday, Nov. 7 in Hussar versus Airdrie Red (7:30 p.m.) and Nov. 9 versus the Airdrie Black (4:45 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.