As the calendar turns to November, the Westlock Seniors ‘AA' Warriors continue to hunt for their first win of the year in the North Central Hockey League.
As the calendar turns to November, the Westlock Seniors
‘AA' Warriors continue to hunt for their first win of the year in the North Central Hockey League.
On Saturday night at the Rotary Spirit Centre the Warriors dropped a 4-2 decision to the Eckville Eagles, while on Sunday in Mayerthorpe versus the Whitecourt Wild the club managed to grab a 4-2 lead before the game was called due to poor ice conditions. The remainder of the contest, with the Warriors in the lead, will be finished when the Wild visit Westlock Nov. 25. The club now sits at 0-4 and is tied with Slave Lake for last place in the league.
'The biggest thing is that as soon as we were up that one goal, we let them back into the game instead of trying to get that extra one and then play conservative," said general manager Joe Kuhar on the 4-2 loss.
'That was the difference in the game - we allowed them back into the game when she should have stepped it up."
Kuhar said the team was trying to find itself at the start and it wasn't until the second period that things picked up.
'That was a result of some line juggling, just to step it up a bit," he said. 'That definitely sparked things to get us that momentum we needed, and then we got the second goal and we thought that was it. Unfortunately we needed to play another 10 or 12 minutes yet to finish the game."
The Warriors took the lead, but the game turned on them when Eckville tallied a last-minute goal in the second to knot the contest 2-2.
That momentum continued into the third, with Eckville picking up two more, rounding out a 4-2 finish with an empty netter.
'It was our third period to win, it was our period to win and we dominated; we just didn't finish. Just a couple of mental breakdowns and that was the difference in the game."
Kuhar praised the goaltending and how the team played, but a few mistakes ended up making a difference in the back of the net.
'Time is getting shorter and we need that win desperately. Tomorrow we need to battle. That's a third of our season behind us and we need that win tomorrow to give us that boost and feeling that we can still have a shot at making the playoffs."
Sunday's game against the Wild turned out unexpectedly when the game was called after the second period due to safety concerns. The Mayerthorpe Arena had patches of missing ice as well as exposed cement.
The Warriors were up 4-2 when the game was called and Kuhar said they will be talking to league officials this week to sort out the situation - he expects they'll complete the third period when the two faceoff in Westlock Nov. 25.
'Unfortunately, when we have the momentum and we were finally putting in some goals in the net, we have to stop and that puts a hiccup in the game plan," he said.
The game was 0-0 in the first period, but the Warriors came out strong in the second.
'We got a couple powerplay goals in the second," he said. 'That was the difference in this game. I think the outcome would have been positive for us, it's just disappointing that we had an issue like this that had to stop the whole game. We would have liked to finished it out."
The club looks to crack the win column this weekend with a pair of road games. The Warriors are in Morinville Friday night, then travel north Saturday to face Slave Lake.
