After splitting their two games over the weekend, the Barrhead midget ‘AA’ Steelers remain in top spot in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League.
The Steelers opened their weekend schedule with a 4-3 home win Friday night against the Edge Gold, a hockey academy from Calgary.
“It was one of our toughest games,” said coach Greg Schmidt. “The Edge are well coached and stick to their system.”
It was an evenly played game all around, with the Edge throwing 19 shots at Steelers goalie Brandin Mast, while the Steelers put 18 shots of their own on Edge goalie Jesse Shenton.
“I thought it wasn’t our best game,” Schmidt said. “But the Edge took our game away. A lot of our game is speed, and they were clogging the neutral zone and it took us a while to catch on.”
Both teams combined for a quick start to the game. Before the ice had dried, the score was already 1-1. The Edge opened the scoring a minute in and Jorrey Jensen tied it up for the Steelers only 11 seconds later. Scott Westerlund drew the assist.
From there, it took until the 7:20 mark for another puck to find the back of a net, when Corey Mercier scored to give the Steelers a 2-1 lead on assists by Connor Tiemstra and Nolan Schmidt.
In the second, the Edge fought for the equalizer, and got it at 5:37. Still, they weren’t able to find the offence to take the lead again. The Steelers retook the lead on Austin Caldwell’s goal at 10:10. Tiemstra and Spencer Voight notched the assists.
Once again trailing by a goal, the Edge worked to tie things up again, and at 17:59 managed to get a third goal past Mast, sending the game into the second intermission tied 3-3.
The third period saw the Steelers have their best period in terms of shots, throwing eight at Shenton, while only allowing three on Mast. However, despite their greatest territorial advantage of the game, things were still tied up entering the final minute of play.
That’s when they broke into the Edge’s zone with a head of steam and with some scrapping and banging found a way to get the puck to Tiemstra, who whipped it into the back of the net to give the Steelers a 4-3 win with only 25 seconds to play. Voight and Caldwell had the assists.
On Saturday, the Steelers headed down to Edmonton to take on SSAC Don Wheaton.
Despite outshooting their hosts 49-21, the Steelers came out on the short end of a 5-3 score.
Despite the loss, the Steelers remain in first place in their division with a 22-6-2 record for 46 points and a nine-point lead over the PAC Spruce Grove Saints.
