The Westlock Senior Warriors fell flat 9-3 against North Central Hockey League rivals, the Morinville Kings, at the Rotary Spirit Centre Nov. 10.
The Warriors started out strong in the game but a series of injuries and brawls, including one with Warriors goalie Chris Kuhar, turned the game against Westlock. The loss drops the club to 1-3 in the NCHL.
Morinville knocked in the first goal of the game within minutes of the puck drop, but rough and heavy-handed plays left both sides short handed most of the period.
The Warriors stayed in it with three goals in the second period, seizing a power play and tying the game 2-2, but the turning point came after the goalie brawl five minutes in.
After that the Warriors were on the defensive as the Kings scored their second goal at the midway mark, followed by four successive shots.
The Kings fortified their lead with two more goals — one with less than 47 seconds remaining — and sealed the deal with their final and ninth goal in the third.
“That was really the difference in the game,” said defenceman Rod Kaliel about the four unanswered goals.
“We just didn’t respond the way we should have. We probably let our emotions get the best of us and lost our focus.
“That’s the way hockey goes when you lose some momentum and one thing builds upon another. I think the shots were fairly even, the play was fairly even as well, but that 10-minute lapse in the second period really did us in.”
Kaliel was injured early on when a King kneed him in his thigh and caused a quadricep contusion, putting him out for the rest of the game.
“There’s lots of emotions between the two teams,” he said.
“We know the players well, a lot of these guys have played junior (hockey) together, against each other, so there’s an intense rivalry between Morinville and Westlock, no doubt.
“It definitely added to the game, which we expected, but I think it’s a good way to get the team motivated. Unfortunately it didn’t work in our favour in this game.”
Losing the goalie and throwing another in cold off the bench also did the Warriors in, Kaliel said, but added that it was one of those things where Kuhar had to make a quick decision and he chose to stick up for himself.
The Warriors next tilt will be on the road when they face the 3-0 Daysland Northstars Nov. 18.
Kaliel said the club would have to play tough defensively and be mentally prepared so as to not have those lapses again, but he was confident they would be able to pull it together.
