After taking the lead in the second period, the Tier 3 Westlock Midget Warriors managed to hold off the Redwater Rush to win their first game of 2015.
With Sunday’s 4-3 home win, the Warriors have a 6-6-1 record in the midget tier 3 division of the 1660 Hockey League.
The first period ended 2-2 with goals being scored by Ethan Brost and Madison Vekved.
Spencer Blades, Steven Mayowski, Adam Hardinge and Isaiah Blanchette all contributed assists.
Westlock finally pulled ahead with two goals in the second period by Blades and Mikael Sormunen, with Ethan and goalie Tyson Pidsadowski contributing assists.
Redwater fought back in the third period with another goal, but were unable to the equalizer as Westlock put up a strong defensive battle.
Tension led to both teams getting into penalty trouble in the third period, which also slowed down the action considerably.
Redwater made an attempt to come back in the final 29 seconds by emptying their net but the Warriors managed to hold them back.
In the end, Pidsadowski was solid between the pipes blocking 31 of 34 shots for ‘W’.
Sormunen, who scored the winning goal, said he felt the team did pretty well in Sunday’s home match and was pleased with how it went.
“I think it was our best game of the year,” Sormunen said.
“We played the whole time and we didn’t have any bad periods. A couple of bad plays, but that’s OK.”
He said there was a little bit of tension in the third game but that happens in most matches.
The club will be heading to Lamont this Friday, Jan. 9 then face Smoky Lake at home at the Rotary Spirit Centre on Monday, Jan. 12.
