The Midget Warriors gave fans at the packed Rotary Spirit Centre a reason to cheer last week, as they became Tier 2 1660 Hockey League champions after defeating Wetaskiwin in a tight three-game series.
The Warriors took the title after beating Wetaskiwin 5-4 at home March 19; losing 6-5 on the road March 20, then coming home for the final victory 2-1 on March 21.
It was a tense but very exciting series said assistant coach Braden Conquergood as the boys celebrated their victory on the ice after the game.
“It’s definitely a huge, huge victory to do this at home and to be able to share this opportunity with the fans as well as the parents, as well as with the rest of the association. Overall, I’m extremely impressed with what the boys did here tonight,” he said.
He pointed out this was the last game at the Spirit Centre for 10 of the midgets as they are aging out of minor hockey, so it was a great way to send them off.
Braydie Teszeri scored the first goal of the game on assists from Benjamin Carlson and Dylan Gabel in the first period and Westlock managed to maintain the lead for the rest of the game.
Zaidyn Pipke scored what would be the game-winning goal on a breakaway midway through the second period, on assists from Keenan Fortier and Brenden Gerig, before Wetaskiwin scored their lone goal of the game.
Goalie Shawn Dopson closed the door from there as he was peppered for the rest of the game, turning aside 40 of the 41 shots he faced.
“They were keeping the guys out from in front of the net, they were getting the puck out of the zone. Fore-checking and back checking, they really helped me out with that. We put pressure on them for the whole game and we didn’t let off,” said Dopson, adding the team is going into provincials with a lot of confidence.
“We skated hard, we worked hard and there was a lot of effort,” said Teszeri. “I’ve got to thank the fans who came out to support us and the boys on the team for playing hard. It’s been a good year.”
Coach Rick Dutchak pointed out the midgets had played the same Wetaskiwin team in the first round of the playoffs, so knew not to underestimate them.
“It was a tight game. We knew we had to win today,” he said. “It’s been a long season. We came from the bottom half of the league and climbed all the way up to second. We knew we could beat this team. We had to do it once at the beginning and once at the end.”
The Warriors provincial championship run came to an end March 25 with a 5-0 semifinal loss to the Elk Point Avalanche.
At the provincial ‘C’ championships in Rimbey March 22-25, the midgets opened with a 5-5 tie versus the La Crete Lumberjacks before caging the Vulcan Hawks 6-1. On March 24, the Warriors breezed past the host Rimbey Renegades 4-1 to finish the round robin 2-0-1.
Head coach Rick Dutchak said that playing hockey every day for the past 10 days caught up with them in the semifinal.
“It was 0-0 after one period and it was close throughout the game, but it was a long stretch for them,” he said recalling the loss to Elk Point.
“It was an emotional game with penalties and frustrations, but at the end of the day they’re still proud of themselves. They have nothing to hang their head about.”
