The Yorkton bantam AA Terriers kicked off their drive for the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League championship with a bang, sweeping the Regina Silver Foxes in their first-round best-of-three series.
"I'm extremely happy with our first-round performance," says Terriers head coach Damon Kustra. "We stayed disciplined and played hard from start to finish. It was a strong team effort. Every line contributed in both games."
Braidon Berezowski stopped 28 of 30 shots to lead the Terriers to a 6-2 win over the Silver Foxes in their first game on Thursday, February 21 in the Kinsmen Arena.
After Terriers forward Josh Rohatynsky opened up the scoring at the 4:53 mark, Silver Foxes blueliner Jonathon Duff knotted the game up at one with only one-second left on the clock.
Heading into the final frame down by a goal, Yorkton blew the lid off the arena. Mckenzie Welke and Brayden Miller potted two apiece, followed by Tyler Stratechuk notching his first of the game to put Regina in their dust.
"It was a big period for us," adds Kustra. "We capitalized on our chances and did the little things right."
In their second match of the series on Saturday in Regina, Yorkton notched five power-play goals to come away with a commanding 6-1 victory.
"Our power play had a lot of opportunities, and they made them count," says Kustra. "I really liked how we turned the other cheek when they took some bad penalties. It showed our character."
JJ Fofonoff and Kylan Shea put the Terriers up by two after the opening period.
Zachary Wilkinson scored the Silver Foxes' lone goal of the game following the Terriers' Derrick Budz notching one and Logan Foster adding a pair.
Brayden Miller closed out the game's scoring with his third of the post-season at the 6:06 mark in the final frame.
Up against the Pat Blues
The Terriers take on the first-place Regina Pat Blues in their second -round playoff series. The league hasn't announced the game dates yet.
Yorkton has been in tough against the Riley Woods-led Pat Blues this year. They lost to them 4-3 in October and 5-2 in February.
"They are the class of the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Division," says Kustra. "They are a tough team to beat, but I think we have just as good of a chance as anyone in the league to knock them off. We just have to carry over some momentum from our Silver Foxes' win and stay composed. Every team can be beat."
