The Westlock Warriors endured another tough road loss Dec. 3, letting a 4-1 lead slip away into a 9-4 loss to last year’s provincial champs, the Daysland Northstars.
The team is now sitting on a record of 2-8-0-1 with seven games remaining in the regular season.
“It was disappointing,” said team manager Joe Kuhar. “We had a great start, things were going well and the guys had a lot of jump, then it seems that in the second period the guys had no energy left for whatever reason. It just didn’t go our way.
“Every time we get up it seems like we get comfortable thinking that we’ve won the game and we let the team back into the game.”
The Warriors started out strong, with Ryan Nelles putting a goal past Andy Sinclair in the first to make the score 1-0 just 30 seconds into the game. The Warriors momentum continued, as Corey Mercier blasting a goal just under 12 minutes into the game to make it 2-0 before the Northstars answered back with a goal by Mitch Gartner to come back into the game.
In the second period, the Warriors opened the scoring again after eight minutes of game time, with Jake Chizma knocking one through the pipes. Not even a minute later, Kolbe Waldner snuck a goal in, putting the Warriors up 4-1.
However, the Northstars weren’t out yet. Rhett Dudley snuck in a goal 12 minutes into the second, and with five minutes left in the period, Scott Day snuck a goal past Chris Kuhar, and was quickly followed two minutes later by John Green, leading the Warriors with a 4-4 tie going into the third period.
Things began to unravel for the Warriors in the third, however, with Grayson Soprovich sneaking a goal in just four minutes into the period.
“Through the first period, we killed three or four penalties and still were able to put four goals on the board,” said Kuhar. “It was really a turning point when they ran our goalie and scored at the same time and there was no call on the play. That seemed to be what took a little bit of wind out of our sails and gave them the momentum.”
The momentum shift was unmistakable. The Northstars Ryley Bennefield scored a hat trick in less than three minutes, putting the Northstars up 8-4. The deal was sealed with a last-minute clincher by Northstars Scott Day, who scored in the final two minutes of regulation time to cap the night off as a 9-4 loss for the Warriors.
Kuhar said that the team would reflect, lick their wounds and prepare to rebound during their upcoming busy weekend. Kuhar noted that with the talent the Warriors have in their roster, they really should be doing better than they have been.
“At this stage of the game, we can’t change our systems. The guys just have to come together,” said Kuhar.
“It’s something that the guys have to figure out as a team and pull together. Quite honestly, we should have three or four more games under our belt as wins.
“We’ve got to look at the positives here; we’ve been in a lot of the games, we just haven’t been able to put 60 minutes of hockey together.”
The Warriors will play a home game against the Slave Lake Winterhawks on Dec. 10, followed by an away game against the Eckville Eagles on Dec. 11.
