There were some tense moments at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre Friday night, but when it was all said and done the Peewee ‘A’ Warriors notched a 4-4 tie and had booked their spot in the second round of the Peewee ‘B’ provincial tournament.
Leading Whitecourt by one goal after a 5-4 win on the road, the Warriors only needed a tie to advance to the next round, a result they achieved despite blowing a 2-0, first period lead.
Coach Shane Boulerice said to get the tie and move on to round two was the result of some strong teamwork.
“The game went well,” he said. “We played hard.”
It took a strong team effort in the second and third periods after the Warriors lost the services of Jaden Senkoe, who received a game misconduct and was kicked out of the game late in the first period.
“I asked the guys to pick it up,” Boulerice said. “They battled hard and came out on top. I’m excited.”
When asked to identify a highlight from the game, he said there wasn’t one play or series of plays that stood out — it was the entire 60 minutes that could be the highlight reel.
“The whole way it was two evenly matched teams,” he said.
Knowing that the Warriors only needed to tie Friday’s game to advance, Boulerice said his plan of attack changed a bit. The Warriors adjusted their forecheck and did their best to keep the puck in deep and away from their net.
The Warriors started the game strong, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Blair Boulerice opened the scoring at 5:12, with assists from Jaiden Romanuik and Curtis Vesely. Senkoe doubled that lead to 2-0 with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 14:03.
In the second, Whitecourt finally got on the board, scoring three times in the first six minutes to take a 3-2 lead.
However, Vesely didn’t let that lead survive the period, as he tied things 3-3 with a goal at 17:59. Boulerice and Ben Carlson had the assists.
Whitecourt controlled much of the third period, and was rewarded with a goal at 13:31 to jump back in front 4-3, and tie the series at eight goals apiece.
With the clock running down, and overtime looming, McCoy broke in on the Whitecourt goal. He wasn’t able to get a shot off, but in getting crunched by the Whitecourt defender, he managed to get the puck over to Boulerice, who potted the game-tying and series-winning goal. Cade McNelly had the second assist on the goal.
The series over, coach Boulerice said he doesn’t know who the Warriors’ next provincial opponent will be. Not that he’s too concerned right now, as he’s simply excited with how the team pulled out the win.
