The Westlock Senior ‘AA’ Warriors went 1-1 on the weekend, losing 5-3 on Friday in Whitecourt but defeating the Edson Ice 7-5 on Saturday night.
On Friday, the Warriors started out strongly with a 2-0 lead in the first period, with one power play and one regular goal being contributed by Evan Kuhar and Alex Belzevick. Clayton Herzog had an assist.
However, Whitecourt ran away with the match in the second period, scoring four goals to Westlock’s one. Derek Koizumi scored the Warriors’ lone goal, with Evan and Belzevick assisting.
The Warriors had played the Whitecourt Wild earlier in the season and beaten them, albeit in a fairly close game.
Coach Joe Kuhar said the Westlock team was a little shortbenched on Friday night, however, and that made the difference playing against a “tough, physical team” like Whitecourt.
“We weren’t able to get the result we wanted,” he said.
On Saturday night, the Warriors were at full strength in terms of numbers while the Edson Ice were a little short-benched.
In spite of that, however, Edson managed to stay neck and neck with the Warriors throughout most of the match, which was tied 2-2 at the end of the first period and 5-5 at the second.
Kuhar suggested that the boys may have been a little tired from playing the night before against Whitecourt.
Evan notched two of the Warriors’ goals in the first and second period, with Derek Koizumi, Nathan Brown and Mike Ivey scoring the remainder. Levis Monfette, Dave Nimmo, Alex Orr, Belzevick, Brett Wold, Zac Schram and Evan all had assists.
“Our expectations were that we should have been able to bury a few more goals ... given the short bench Edson had, but we weren’t able to get that done,” he said.
The Warriors finally pulled ahead in the third period to win the game 7-5. Belzevick and Nimmo scored the last two goals, with Mason Lyle, Evan and Wold assisting.
“It wasn’t a pretty win, but we got the win (on Saturday),” said Kuhar.
Saturday’s game at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre marked the Warriors’ last home game of 2014.
However, they have a big weekend coming up with away games in Devon and Morinville on Friday, Dec. 19, and Saturday, Dec. 20.
Devon and Morinville are among the top leaders in the North Central Hockey League (NCHL) and Kuhar said this weekend’s results may determine where the Warriors end up in the standings going into the new year.
“Next weekend is a huge, huge weekend for our team,” he said.
