The Atom 1 Warriors were in Beaverlodge March 15-18 to take on some of the best atom teams in the province, but came up short losing two of their three round robin games.
“It was a tough go for us this weekend,” said coach Dave Wilejto.
The boys opened the event with a game against Stettler on March 16 and came out of the gate ready to take on all comers, even scoring a two goal lead at one point, but unfortunately they couldn’t keep up the pace and dropped the game 7-4.
Blake Wilejto scored the Warriors first goal of the game halfway through the first with a helper from Owen McKenna. Cole Fedorvich scored unassisted shortly after.
Stettler replied with a goal of their own before the first period ended to make the score 2-1.
Westlock scored their third goal of the game early in the second, courtesy of Lukas Boissonault, on assists from McKenna and Terren Page. It was all Stettler after that though, as they scored six unanswered goals before Westlock was able to bury another one.
Fedorvich scored the final goal with two minutes remaining on helpers from Rhett Gerig and Zack McCoy but it was too late for a comeback as the Stettler team held on for the 7-4 win.
“The score is probably indicative of the play,” said Wilejto. “I think we had a slight edge in the first and probably played them even in the third, but we really fell apart in the second period.”
The club got into some penalty trouble in the second and couldn’t manage to keep the star of the Stettler team at bay.
“He got some room to work on the power plays and we just couldn’t figure out a way to shut him down while he opened it up in the second period,” said Wilejto.
The Warriors were back on the ice that night to take on the zone 1 champs from La Crete. It was a back-and-forth game with 19 goals scored between the two teams, but Westlock came out on the losing side once again, dropping a 10-9 heartbreaker in the last minutes of the game.
The two teams traded goals in the first period with Page scoring the opening goal of the game on assists from Fedorvich and Gerig.
La Crete scored shortly after but McKenna netted another goal, from Marcus Stoby before the end of the first, making the score 2-1.
Fedorvich scored another, on an assist from Stoby, to make the score 3-1, but La Crete answered back with three quick goals to take the lead 4-3.
Westock’s Jacob Demers tied it up on an unassisted goal at 7:27 of the second, but La Crete took control with three more goals of their own before the end of the period, making the score 7-4 heading into the final frame.
La Crete scored another in the first minute of the third, but Westlock answered back with three more goals of their own to make the score 8-7 in favour of La Crete.
The first of the three came from Wilejto, scored on a pass from McKenna. Fedorvich and McKenna followed that up each with an unassisted goal of their own.
La Crete went up 9-7 but the Warriors fought back to tie it at nine on goals from Wilejto and Fedorvich. Braydon Beattie scored the lone assists on both goals.
The game was up in the air with six minutes left, with both teams vying for the final goal of the game. Unfortunately, it was La Crete who came up with that goal at 16:26 and held on for the 10-9 win.
“It’s such a game of momentum, especially for kids this age. We got on a bit of a roll in the third and came charging right back and made it 9-8 at one point. We even had a partial breakaway with about 12 seconds left and that was the last of our chances.”
The Warriors brought their 0-2 record into their third game of the round robin against High Country March 17 and redeemed themselves with a 4-2 win.
“We got back to the game we’re used to playing. Typically we’re a stifling defensive team, our goaltending was right on in the last game and we really eliminated a lot of scoring chances. Quite truthfully I think we could have opened that one up a lot more,” said Wilejto.
Fedorvich opened the scoring a minute into the game on assists from McKenna and Stoby. McKenna then scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-1.
Wilejto made it 3-1 in the second and McKenna added another goal, from Wilejto to pad the lead at 4-2 and win the game.
Their 1-2 record wasn’t enough to make it into the semifinals though and the boys headed home early Sunday morning with memories that will likely last a lifetime.
“I think it was a great weekend, they had lots of fun. They’ll take memories of this with them forever and probably more than anything, this was the first crack at it for them all,” said Wilejto.
“They’re young and maybe there was some jitters while we were playing with the lead in those first two games, but maybe these guys will be able to take the experience to another time where they can put that to use and maybe be a little more comfortable.”
