A pair of weekend wins at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre has left Westlock’s Bantam Warriors with a 5-1 record and first-place in their division.
Coach Barry Brost said the games, a 7-5 win Friday night against the Winfield Mighty Ducks and a 9-3 win Saturday night over the Warburg Sharks, were a good reflection of the skills and effort his team has put in so far this year.
“We had a really good team effort,” he said. “We’re working on some new systems that we’re trying to teach them, and they’re buying into it. It seems to be working.”
Westlock took an early lead in Friday’s game, with a goal by Adam Hardinge to start things off. Unfortunately the Mighty Ducks answered with two of their own, leaving the Warriors down 2-1 going into the second.
The teams were evenly matched in the second, with goals by Robert Bokenfohr and Samuel Milner to hold Winfield’s lead to 4-3 at the end of the period.
The tide turned against the Ducks in the third period, with Zachary Lafontaine and Nicholas Schwarz scoring one each and Hardinge finding the back of the net twice to complete his hat trick. The Ducks managed just one goal, ending the game 7-5.
Saturday’s game went a little differently, with the Warriors given a clear advantage from the start with just eight players on the Sharks’ bench.
“They ran it a little bit short, those guys,” Brost said.
Ethan Brost scored in the first, leaving the teams tied 1-1 going into the second. Things changed pretty quickly, however, with Scott Watson scoring the first of his three goals less than four minutes into the period.
Milner, Lafontaine and Schwarz also scored one each, giving the Warriors a comfortable 7-2 lead going into the third. Goals by Chris Sturkenboom in the third sealed the deal for a 9-3 final score.
All told, Brost said he’s pretty confident this team is going to continue to perform well as the season progresses.
“We’ve got a really talented group, really well balanced,” he said.
“We’ve got a good balance on forward, our defence is strong and we’ve got really good goaltending on the back end.”
The only thing that’s really holding them back, he added, is themselves.
“It’s just consistency right now, just getting the consistency of playing in five-man units and getting the kids confident — just believing in themselves,” he said. “When they get confidence like today, this is what happens.”
