Westlock’s Tier 4 Bantam Warriors are nestled comfortably into first place in their division after earning an 8-5 win over the New Sarepta Eagles last Sunday afternoon.
The Dec. 22 match at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre was the last game of the year for the boys, and team captain Ethan Brost said spirits are high going into the break.
“Now we’re in first place and we’re undefeated for 2013,” he said. “I think that’s a pretty good achievement.”
The first period saw the two teams fairly evenly matched. Brost put the first point on the board about four minutes in, but the Eagles rallied to tie things up a few minutes later.
Robert Bokenfohr scored with just a minute and a half left in the period, giving the Warriors a lead they would hold on to for the rest of the game.
Curtis Vesely widened the lead to 3-1 right out of the gate in the second period, which gave the Warriors some extra momentum.
The Eagles scored with three minutes left in the period, bringing them within striking distance of the Warriors.
There potential comeback was stopped in its tracks, however, as Brost scored 20 seconds later.
Another minute and a half after that, and Braydie Teszeri made it 5-2 to end the period.
The Eagles were down but not out, showing a lot of determination in the third period. The again brought the score within a single point after goals four minutes and eight minutes into the third.
Their possible comeback was once again cut short, however, with Joshua Reagan scoring a minute later, and Teszeri scoring again 15 seconds after that.
Vesely scored again late in the period for the 8-5 final.
Brost acknowledged his team slipped up a little in the third period by giving up a few goals, and said it was a matter of the whole team forgetting what they were supposed to be doing.
“It wasn’t just the defense’s fault,” he said. “We kind of gave up with our positioning and just didn’t do so well.”
They kept working hard, however, and were able to pull out a win against a team they knew would be tough to beat.
“We really thought it was going to be a hard game,” he said. “They were in second place and they’ve been doing really good.”
The Warriors will now kick up their feet for the holidays, not facing any more competitive play until January.
