The Barrhead midget ‘A’ Renegades have ended their season-opening losing streak with a 5-5 tie against the visiting Leduc Roughnecks Saturday night at the Agrena.
The Nov. 12 game was a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams take and lose the lead at least once before time expired.
Coach Mike Warehime said he was happy with how the team played in its first game against Leduc this season.
“The boys played pretty well,” he said. “We only made a few simple mistakes. At the end of the year they’ll be a different team.”
It was a good start for the Renegades in the game, as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead only 6:27 into the game on a goal by Carlito Betts. Josh Laun and Logan Disterheft drew assists on the goal.
However, the second period would be a different story altogether for the home side. Only 4:44 into the period, the Roughnecks tied it up. Although Nick Dekker would give the Renegades a 2-1 lead at 9:19 on Jonathan Cross’ assist, Leduc didn’t let up, scoring twice more to take a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes.
In the third, the Roughnecks increased their lead to 4-2 only 18 seconds in. But for the next 10 and a half minutes, the game belonged to Brayden Laun.
Laun scored three goals in that span, dragging the Renegades from trailing by two goals to leading 5-4. Nick Perdaems, Eric Schmidt, Brandon Marsh and Dekker drew assists on the goals.
The Renegades were on their way to their first win of the season at that point, but the Roughnecks had other plans.
With only 3:19 to play, Leduc scored again, knotting the score at 5-5, where it remained until the final buzzer sounded.
Despite failing to hold on to the lead, Warehime said he’s happy with the progress his players have shown so far this season.
“They’re picking up what’s thrown at them,” he said. “There were some blowouts early, but they’re improving.”
The Renegades hit the ice again Nov. 18 when they travel to Lamont to try to exact some revenge on the Hawks, who won the first meeting between the teams 9-2 on Oct. 29.
