It took some heart-stopping moments in the third period, but the Barrhead Midget ‘AA’ Steelers remain undefeated on the season after a 7-4 win over the St. Albert Crusaders at the Agrena on Oct. 21.
Up 6-1 after two periods of play, the Steelers watched as the Crusaders scored three goals in less than four minutes to turn what was once a comfortable lead into a nailbiting one.
“The boys played awesome in the first two periods,” said co-coach Trevor Whiting. “I thought we had it in the bag. The lesson there is that hockey is a 60-minute game.”
Colton Properzi opened the scoring for the Steelers less than 10 minutes into the game, with Dayne Wingrove and Brandon Whiting picking up assists. Jordan Smith added to the Steelers’ lead at 13:45 when he scored on assists by Jake Chizma and Brett Bujold. Those goals made it 2-0 for the Steelers after a period of play.
In the second, the floodgates opened as the Steelers took control of the game with four goals in the opening 14 minutes of play.
Just over two minutes in, Scott Westerlund made it 3-0 on an assist by Chizma. At 3:49, Austin Caldwell made it 4-0 on assists by Wingrove and Jonathan Cyr. Cyr scored twice soon after that, at 7:53 and 13:38 to stretch the lead to 6-0. Bujold, Jorrey Jensen and Thomas Strawson drew assists on Cyr’s two goals.
However, in a sign of things to come in the third, the Crusaders got on the board with a goal only 1:13 after Cyr, to draw the visitors within five at 6-1.
The third period was a challenge for the Steelers, as the Crusaders started chipping away at the deficit they were facing. Goals at 2:18, 4:27 and 5:50 turned what was once a solid 6-1 lead for the Steelers into a narrow 6-4 lead.
Late in the third, the Crusaders scored a goal that was immediately waved off because a Crusader player had kicked the puck off a Steeler’s stick and into the net.
Shortly after that, with only 1:11 remaining on the clock, Jensen took a pass from Whiting and broke in on net and scored to make it 7-4 restoring the Steelers’ comfort level.
After the game, coach Whiting said the boys have to remember never to let off the throttle.
“We let them back in at the start of the third,” he said. “It proves what a momentum game hockey is. St. Albert came out and scored and put us on our heels.”
Still, there was one definite result from the game, he said.
“We won.”
The Steelers saw their six-game, season-opening winning streak come to an end at the hands of MLAC Raylin Manufacturing during an afternoon tilt at the Agrena.
However, the Steelers remain one of only two undefeated teams in the Northern Alberta Midget AA Hockey League following a 4-4 tie.
Trailing 3-2 in the third, the Steelers scored twice to take a 4-3 lead, only to see MLAC tie the game before the clock ran out.
The Steelers return to the ice Oct. 28 when they travel to Beaumont to take on the Braves before returning to Barrhead Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. to host the SHC Mustangs.
