Midget Huskies defeat Warner, earn Division Championship

Midget Huskies vs Warner
Kelly Lepine photos, T. Lucas video

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

The South County Sabres hosted Pincher Creek's Midget Huskies in Warner on Friday evening, January 17.  It was a very physical game with determination radiating from all the players.  Both sides were playing with players missing due to injuries.  They both wanted this game, but ultimately The Huskies took the win securing their place as Spud League division champions.

These teams have a history of playing rough with each other, and this night was no exception.  The Huskies have speed on their side, with multiple fast skilled skaters.  Warner has big players, with Trey Blackmer, Tristan Peterson and Dakota Balog towering over the rest of the men on the ice.

The first goal of the game was scored by Sabres Tristan Peterson less than four minutes into the game.     The Huskies tied it up at 12:05 on the clock with a goal by Derek Tarcon, assisted by Craig Marshall and Marc Sciarra.  For the rest of the period the goals were scored by the Huskies, with Blair Goodreau scoring twice, assists going to Chase Tymchyna and Liam Connelly-Engel.  Zack Wall scored an unassisted goal and Colin Lincez scored assisted by Jared Koentges and Blair Goodreau to end the period with a score of 5 - 1 for the Huskies.  Two penalties were called on the Huskies, with Craig Marshall getting 2 minutes for roughing and Blair Goodreau getting two minutes for hooking.  The Sabres racked up five penalties in the first period including a game misconduct, adding up to 14 minutes of penalty time.

The Sabres climbed in the second period with two unanswered goals.   Rylan Schmitt scored assisted by Jason Liebelt and Trey Blackmer scored assisted by Tristan Peterson Dayne Conway.  The Huskies made many attempts to score on Sabres goalie Wacey Thielen but Thielen blocked all the shots that came his way in the second period, and deserves mention for how many shots he kept out throughout this game. This made the score 5 - 3 for the Huskies at the end of the second period.  Both teams had two players visit the penalty box for 2 minutes each this period.

In the third period tempers were showing and the play got rougher as the minutes ticked by.  Husky Zack Wall scored the first goal in the period four and a half minutes in.  Sabre Jalen Hulit scored a minute and a half later, assisted by Trey Blackmer and Nickolas Swanson.  Husky Derek Tarcon scored assisted by Zack Wall at the  11:14 mark,  and that turned out to be the last goal of the game.  Husky Jared Koentges earned a 2 minute roughing penalty this period.  Four Sabres penalties included a second game misconduct (intent to hurt).  The game ended with the Huskies victorious 7 - 4.

It was a tough game," said Huskies Head Coach Kent Goodreau.  "The boys came out, played well.  They got some bumps and bruises out of it, but they played well, they came out on top again.  We have an upper body injury and a lower body injury, so it came at a cost, without a doubt.  This was a tough, physical game.  They were running us hard with some questionable calls.  The ref did call on them.  They boys played smart.  Warner did try to come back into it and the boys did buckle down and scored a couple goals to help us out."

"The whole team are the big scorers.  Winning this game just put us in as division league champions.  We go into Provincials(playdowns) now.  We'll re-evaluate the team on Monday, and see where we're at.  We'll start putting our plan together on how to put together our upcoming provincial games, and our last three league games with Kainai, Foremost, and one in Magrath, I believe.  We're at 17 wins, no losses, one tie."

-corrected for accuracy