The second seeded Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers hosted the seventh seeded Moose Jaw Warriors in Game One of their best-of-three first round series at the Farrell Agencies Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The UCT Terriers, who boasted the league's best offence all season long, demonstrated why they were the top offensive team in the league, outshooting the Warriors 49-19 and outscoring Moose Jaw 10-1 to take a one-game-to-none series lead.
Both Carson Miller and Derrick Budz led the way for Yorkton, picking up five points with one goal and four assists each, while Keanan Sperling had two goals and two assists.
UCT Terrier captain Tyler Stratechuk also had two goals in the game while solo markers came from Luke Schappert, McKenzie Welke, Carson Welke and Keenan Taphorn.
McKenzie Welke opened the scoring for the UCT Terriers seven minutes into the game when he accepted the no look, behind the net, backhand pass from his twin brother Carson Welke and fired the puck past Warriors goalie Garrett Goy blocker side for a 1-0 Yorkton lead.
The Terriers doubled their lead just two minutes and 35 seconds later when, with Moose Jaw's Dylan Jones in the penalty box for slashing, Carson Welke beat Goy to make it 2-0.
Yorkton took a 3-0 lead not long after as Budz got the final touch on the puck before it found its way into the net after bouncing around the crease.
A Stratechuk bomb from the point beat a screened Goy to make it 4-0 and the rout was on as the Terriers added one more in the first, four in the second and another in the third while Moose Jaw could only rustle up one goal in response to make it a 10-1 final.
Throughout the game it was evident that the UCT Terriers cycle game and overall skill were just too much for a smaller, slower Moose Jaw club. Something that UCT Terriers head coach Graham Garrett noticed very early on. "They can't handle our speed and our forecheck," mentioned the Yorkton bench boss."We created a lot of scoring opportunities in the first two periods and pretty much took them out of the hockey game."
While a 10-1 score makes it appear that there were no problems for the UCT Terriers, Garrett thinks otherwise. "We lost control in some situations when they were trying to create something positive," offered Garrett. "I think they did that by tying us 1-1 in the third. We also took some penalties that we maybe shouldn't have. That shows them that they can maybe get under our skin and we've got to be more disciplined and make sure that doesn't happen."
When asked if he was worried about Game Two in Moose Jaw, what with the Warriors getting to dictate the on-ice match ups, Garrett simply shook his head and said, "I'm pretty confident that whatever match ups they want our guys can handle and still have the same result."
Next action
The Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers were scheduled to take on the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game Two of their best-of-three first round series on Tuesday, however results were unavailable at press time.
Should Yorkton fail to sweep the Warriors, Game Three would be played at the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton at 7:45p.m. on Friday, February 28.
