Minor hockey: Late goals help, hinder midget 15’s

By Medicine Hat News on October 1, 2019.

NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
South East Athletic Club Tigers forward Kieran Christenson cuts past NWCAA Bruins defenceman Dylan Bidyk during an Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League game at Hockey Hounds Arena on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019.

The South East Athletic Club’s midget 15-year-old Tigers started their season with plenty of late excitement – and not all of it good.

After scoring late to earn a 3-3 tie in their home opener Saturday, the Tigers were on the other side of a late snipe Sunday which resulted in a 3-2 loss.

At Hockey Hounds Recreation Centre, Kyle Woolridge earned the home team a point when he scored against the Calgary Blazers with 1:49 to go in the third period Saturday.

That, plus first-period goals from Brady Mahar and Daniel Ganert were enough for the tie, but shots on goal suggested they dominated play otherwise. Blazers goalie Daivs Begora made 40 saves to keep his side in the lead most of the way, whereas Kaiden Morin only registered 18 stops for the Tigers.

Trailing 2-1 late in Sunday’s game against the Calgary Bruins, Mahar scored with 2:32 to go and seemed to have earned his team another draw. But Roan Girard responded for Calgary with 17 seconds left on the clock for the 3-2 win.

Jackson Bowal had SEAC’s other Sunday goal, while Landon Porteous made 24 saves.

The team stays at home this Friday against the Calgary Rangers, a 7:15 p.m. start at Hockey Hounds. They’re on the road Saturday.

Bantam AAA

The South East Tigers are still looking for their first win of the season in the bantam AAA ranks.

On the road for games in Red Deer and Calgary, the Tigers were outscored by a wide margin.

Saturday in Red Deer the Rebels won 4-0, with goalie Brock Lott only needing 17 saves for the shutout. By comparison, Silas Currie had 45 shots against in the SEAC goal.

It was 5-0 before the Tigers got their first goal Sunday against the Calgary Flames, then Elias Eisenbarth and Dawson Stewart scored 16 seconds apart. But that was it for the offence in a 9-2 loss.

Shots were 47-14 in the Flames’ favour. Beck Boiteau made 38 saves for SEAC.

The Tigers host Okotoks this Sunday, 2:45 p.m. at Hockey Hounds.

Midget AA

For the first two weeks the Jasper Homes Hounds are on the road, but they proved some mettle in winning their first in enemy territory.

At Lethbridge Saturday, Medicine Hat’s midget AA team beat the Hurricanes 3-2. Tanner Gold’s power play goal with 13:21 left broke a 2-2 tie.

Connor Miller had a goal and an assist while Vaughn Strutt had the other marker for the Hounds, who outshot Lethbridge 37-21. Nate Hoffman got the win in net.

The team is in Taber next weekend, then heads to Strathmore the Friday after that before their home opener the next afternoon.

Bantam AA

The bantam AA Hounds got their first look at the refurbished Kinplex Saturday, earning a 3-3 tie against the Taber Golden Suns.

Jake Christianson’s goal with 6:14 remaining got the home side the single point, while Jesse Klimosko and Zach Herman had the other goals.

Shots were 40-31 in Taber’s favour but Kaige Schafer made 37 saves in the Hounds net to keep things close.

Peewee AA

Make it 1-1 in the battle for cross-town peewee AA supremacy.

Medicine Hat’s Black team earned an 8-3 win Sunday at Hockey Hounds, following last weekend’s 5-2 win by Orange.

Down 2-0 through 20 minutes, Black poured on the pressure in the second, getting two goals each from Ryan Miller and Randen Collier plus a single from Cole Fisher.

Collier finished off his hat trick in the third while Ty Wasyluk added a goal to round out the winning team’s scoring.

Joey Clarke, Cash Olson and Josiah Jackson replied for Orange, which was outshot 46-22. Goalie Pryce Velichko made 38 saves while Black goalie Kolter Gans made 19 for the win in his end.

Black earned its first win of the regular season, following Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Lethbridge White. Coincidentally it was Orange’s first loss, following a 4-1 win in Chestermere Friday.

The teams don’t meet again until January for the rubber match in their season series.