Braves drop two

Times Reporter

 

The peewee Wheatland Braves lost two away games in a row this weekend; 4-0 to the Bow Valley Timberwolves on Oct. 25, and 6-2 to the Lethbridge ‘Bert & Mac’s’ Hurricanes Red two days later. Ethan Phan and Kyle Crnkovic were the Braves lone goal scorers against Lethbridge, with Tarun Fizer assisting on both goals, to add to his team leading 14 points. 

The star this weekend, despite the two upsets, was goalie Ethan Rycroft, who faced 56 shots against Bow Valley.

“Rycroft was completely outstanding. You can’t ask more from a goaltender than what he gave us that night,” Braves’ Coach Keith Klemmensen said. “We were really trading chances in the first period or two with Bow Valley, and he really kept us in it – although, their goalie played really well in the first period as well. I don’t think we had as many shots as they did.”

Klemmensen admitted that his team had too many turnovers and three-on-ones against them – they’re not skating hard enough to challenge the puck.

“They’re a better team than us right now. I thought the boys competed really well for the first half of the game. Part way through the game we made a couple errors in our effort – our maturity wasn’t there. We were trying to be too individualistic. Next thing you know, it’s in the back of our net.”

In the Lethbridge game, Wheatland took 10 penalties, which ultimately lead to their defeat.

“The difference was four powerplay goals against us. We took at least four needless, selfish penalties. Once guys quit getting mad at everything, it’ll probably turn itself around,” Klemmensen said. “They get a little star struck looking for individual points instead of team success. You’ve got to stress, the team is the ultimate thing here.”

The peewee Braves play the Taber Golden Suns next at home on Nov. 2, and are now 3-7-1 on the season.

The bantam Wheatland Warriors pulled off a close victory in Okotoks against the Oilers on Oct. 27. Brady Skiffington and Cole Clayton put Wheatland up 2-0 by the end of the second period, but Okotoks scored halfway through the third, and then again while shorthanded with under two minutes to play. Kyle Merkosky scored the game-winning goal with under a minute to play for the win.

Merkosky and teammate Rylan Longmuir are tied for the team lead with 18 points, and are fifth in league scoring. Still unbeaten in ten games, the Warriors face off against the Red Deer Steel Kings at home on Nov. 1.

The Wheatland Chiefs suffered their first loss and tie of the season, moving them to 5-1-1. On Oct. 26, after a Chiefs 1-0 lead, the Okotoks Oilers scored three goals in the second. Though the Chiefs scored short handed in the third to come within a goal, Okotoks took a 4-2 lead with less than five minutes to go. Jayse Wilson assisted on each of the goals, to Cole Busslinger and Blair Roszell.

The following day, the midget Chiefs tied the CNHA Canucks at home 4-4, with Cody Willis contributing two goals. Their next game is against the Red Deer Elks at home on Nov. 9.