It was a valiant attempt, but the Westlock Midget Warriors weren’t able to complete the comeback against the Redwater Rush.
On Saturday, Nov. 14 the Warriors fell 6-5 to the Rush at the Rotary Spirit Centre in Midget Tier 4 1660 Hockey League play.
It was a first period to forget for Westlock after finding themselves down by three after only 12 minutes of play. The Warriors kept the Rush at bay for the remainder of the period.
In the second Westlock tallied twice in the final five minutes of play on goals from Kestyn Dutchak and Levi Cohoe to trail 3-2.
Early in the third the Warriors notched the tying goal, but minutes later Redwater took a 4-3 lead. The Rush added one more to extend the lead, but a Warriors’ powerplay marker by Braydie Teszeri cut it to 5-4.
Seconds later a Rush shorthanded tally made it 6-4. A final effort from the Warriors brought the score to 6-5, but it was a matter of too little, too late.
Coach Rick Dutchak applauded his team’s effort after falling behind so early.
“We did come back, we just waited a little too long,” he said.
“We played well for half the game, it was a little too late at that point.”
Dutchak said it was a matter of playing to their strengths that allowed his team back in the game.
“We started skating and throwing a couple hits on a small team and then we started playing our game and it was easy to get back in it,” he said.
“The changes we made worked, but then we kept changing back to playing their game.”
Coach Dutchak said it was a morale booster to get back in the game, but a lesson learned at the same time.
“It lifted our spirits, but we just let out foot off the gas,” he said. “If we woke up earlier in the game we would have been fine.”
With the loss the Warriors fall to 0-4 on the season and remain at the bottom of the Tier 4 Midget division.
