The Yorkton Bantam AA Terriers split two home games in the Farrell Agencies Arena prior to their Christmas break.
The Terriers came up short against the Regina Monarchs on Dec. 21, losing 2-1 in a nail bitter.
The Monarchs got on the board first with Brett Merk sneaking one past Terriers puck-stopper Carter Park at the 15:49 mark in the first period.
The second period was scoreless, with the shot total being 12-9 in favour of Regina.
The Terriers' JJ Fofonoff tied up the game at one in the first minute of the third to setup an exciting third period.
But unfortunately for Yorkton, they got into sin-bin trouble during crunch time, taking 16-minutes worth of penalties in the third.
"Those penalties definitely hurt us," says Terriers head coach Damon Kustra. "You never want to take penalties late in a game, especially when it's close like it was."
Monarchs forward Mason Mullaney scored the game winner with just 4:38 remaining in the game to hand the Terriers a loss.
The bantam hockey club showed character by quickly bouncing back the following night against the Swift Current Kabos Raiders, taking the contest 5-2.
Yorkton team captain Kylan Shea pounded away a loose puck in the first two minutes of the match to give the Terriers a quick 1-0 lead.
Not even a minute later, Logan Foster lit the lamp, making it 2-0 Yorkton.
Swift Current wouldn't go away, though. The Raiders' Cody Spagrud potted one past Yorkton goaltender Braidon Berezowski to make it a one-goal hockey game only 22 seconds after Foster's marker.
Brennan Watson swung the momentum back in the Terriers' favour with 7:35 left in the period by scoring a power-play marker.
Shea netted his second on the game to open up the scoring in the second just 13:50 into the period.
Swift Current's Caleb Stevenson scored with just over a minute left in the period to cut the Terriers' lead down to two headed into the final period.
Jonah Sutter found the back of the net with 14:28 left in the contest to give Yorkton a commanding 5-2 lead, which ended up being the final score.
Outshooting the Raiders 31-19, Kustra was more than impressed with his squad's performance.
"We had a good game and got the bounces we needed," he said. "We took advantage of their shaky goaltending to start the game and finished it out strong."
The Terriers went into their Christmas break with a 6-7-3 record, tied with the Estevan Bruins for fourth place in the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Division.
"I like where we stand," says Kustra. "We had a rocky start, but we have started to turn things around."
Kustra gives credit to some of his top performers for his club's turnaround after their 0-3 start.
"Brennan Watson has really impressed me," he said about the Terriers' leading goal scorer, who has 12 goals and 18 points in 16 games. "He's from Kamsack and is in his first year with the Terriers. He seemed to really get going after our Regina tournament in November. He has continued to score and has been strong for us at both ends."
"Braidon Berezowski has also been strong for us," he added on his goaltender, who has maintained a 3.17 average throughout nine games. "He keeps us in nearly every game and makes a lot of key saves."
The Terriers head back to action on Jan. 10 against the Melville Millionaires in the Farrell Agencies Arena.
