Warriors run through top teams to take South title

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The Wheatland Warriors had never beaten the Foothills Bisons this season, but they struck twice when it mattered most.
After getting blanked 3-0 by the No. 2 seeded Okotoks Oilers in the opener of the South Central Alberta Hockey League south division playoffs, the Warriors entered a must-win game against the divisional top dogs.
Joel Romano tied the game at one to close the first period, as the local double-A bantam team received goals from Austin Haslund and Brayden Ledrew in the second period to put away the Bisons 3-1.
“That was a huge confidence-boosting win for the boys,” said Warriors Head Coach Cody Brown. “We struggled with (the Bisons) this year – we played in close games, we just couldn’t get over the hump – but there was no better time to get one past them than on the weekend.”
Rounding out the round robin slate, the Warriors piped the fourth-seeded Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2 March 10 at the Kinplex I Arena in Medicine Hat.
Philip Raycroft, Jerrin Hendricks, Jarred Schrock, Spencer Tower and Ledrew found the back of the net for the Warriors, as they continued their all-hands-on-deck approach.
“We don’t have any all-stars on our team, but what we have is a lot of depth and 19 guys who are willing to work hard for the team and do their part,” said Brown.
In the semis, the Warriors were matched up once again with the Bisons, and shaved them 2-1, defeating them for the second time on the weekend.
Domenic Ficaccio scored in the first from Brandon McGillvary and Philip Raycroft, as Hendricks netted the winner at the 15:04 mark of the second stanza.
Now with the Bison monkey off their back, the Warriors needed to shake off the 3-0 performance in their opener against the Oilers with a 3-1 victory March 11 in the divisional final.
“We came out a little slow against the Oilers in the opener,” said Brown. “Everyone has a bad game at some point in the weekend and that was ours. Luckily enough, we got it out of the way early and the boys were able to buy in and come together the rest of the way.”
The Oilers led 1-0 after one, as the Warriors only mustered four shots on net. The Warriors grabbed the lead in the second with goals from Ficaccio and Ledrew.
Lachlan Stewart pushed one more across in the third, as the Warriors had to kill off a double minor for head contact and shut down a penalty shot in the third period to earn their second south title in the past three years.
“I didn’t agree with the calls and the timing of the calls, but it was great to see the boys battle through a little bit of adversity,” said Brown.
Pushing through the adversity is easy when there is a brick wall between the pipes.
After Corey Ross allowed three goals on 33 shots against the Oilers in the opener, Brown and his staff went to Dylan Fries-Abel.
Playing out the final four games, Fries-Abel recorded a dazzling .964 save percentage combined with a 1.25 goals against average, which included a 40-save performance over the Bisons in the semifinal.
“Dylan was amazing. He was unreal. When you put up the kind of numbers he did on the weekend, it’s easy to ride a guy like that,” said Brown.
Now, waiting in the wings for the Warriors are the West Central Tigers, who defended their No. 1 seed ranking and won the north division tournament last weekend by edging the Central Alberta Selects March 11 at the Gary Moe Sportsplex.
“We split with them in the regular season, so we know they are a good team. You don’t get to this point by chance, but we didn’t get a really good feel from them in the regular season,” said Brown. “We know they have size and depth, and that it will be a battle, but I think our guys are up to the challenge.”
Back in November, the Tigers downed the Warriors 5-2. The Warriors returned the favour Feb. 11 in Strathmore, when they handed the Tigers a 5-2 defeat.
Game 1 of the best-of-three SCAHL final is set for March 16 at the Nexsource Centre. Game 2 will go March 17 at the Strathmore Family Centre (7:30 p.m.). If necessary, Game 3 would be played March 18 back in Sylvan Lake.

Great run comes to end
In the midget ranks, the defending provincial champion Chiefs were dethroned by the host Lethbridge Hurricanes March 11.
The Hurricanes were the class of the south all year long and proved it by eliminating the Chiefs 6-2 at the Nicholas Sheran Ice Centre.
“We got into a bit of penalty trouble and they have a really good power play,” said Chiefs Head Coach Matt Gass. “We lost our composure for a bit and found ourselves in a pretty big hole.”
The Hurricanes converted on four of eight man advantages, as Jayden Hendricks and Stran Red Crow pushed goals across for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs wouldn’t have matched up with the Hurricanes in the semi if they would have taken care of business in the final round robin game.
Already with the best goals against, a win would have propelled them into the top seed and a rematch with the Taber Golden Suns. Instead, their 1-1 draw with those same Suns sent them into the lion’s den with the hometown Hurricanes.
The Chiefs opened the weekend with a bang, by doubling up the Okotoks Oilers 4-2 March 8 and cranking the Foothills Bisons 11-0 the following day.
“The dressing room was sad and sombre,” said Gass. “Nobody expected us to go out in the semis. It just sucks because I’ve known some of these kids for three years now and we have accomplished a lot. It would have been nice to keep it going.”

Braves fall in semis
The Wheatland Braves struggled keeping pucks out of the net in the second half of the season and that trend continued last weekend in Chestermere, as the Braves were eliminated from the peewee double-A playoff tournament in the semifinal.
The Cranbrook BP Wings knocked out the Braves with a 7-5 decisions March 10. Tyler Fairbairn was in on all five goals, as Kolten Kuryk supplied one goal and two assists, and Adam Moore and Jace Koole added singles.
The Braves were thumped 12-4 by the Lethbridge Hurricanes White March 9 at the Chestermere Regional Community Association Rink.
The Braves opened the weekend with a pair of ties, 4-4 to the Okotoks Oilers Green and 7-7 against the Foothills Bisons.
The Chiefs and the Braves can now look forward to their organizational banquet later this spring.