The Yorkton Harvest extended their win streak in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League to four on Wednesday, January 16 against the Moose Jaw Generals.
Chase McKersie's two-goal performance helped edge the Harvest over the Generals in a 6-4 victory in the Farrell Agencies Arena.
"It was a huge win," says Harvest head coach Jeff Odgers. "The guys really came together and didn't let up in the game. They stuck to the game plan and finished out strong."
Donavon Lumb notched his 12th on the year to put the Harvest out in front early in the first.
The Generals started to catch steam in the latter half of the opening period. Ben Duperreault and Donovan Neuls potted one apiece to put Moose Jaw up by one.
Red-hot Lynden Pastachak, who has 23 goals and 41 points in 31 games, knotted the game up at two with only 1:26 left in the period.
Mckersie swung the momentum in favour of Yorkton early in the second period, scoring back-to-back goals in the first 10 minutes to put the Harvest up by two.
"He had a big game for us," says Odgers on Mckersie. "We had his line matched up against one of the Generals' lines and they all played really strong. They won battles and scored some goals when we really needed them to."
Generals team captain Rhett Gardner, whose WHL rights were recently traded to the Brandon Wheat Kings from the Spokane Chiefs, made it a one-goal game at the 5:49 mark, lighting the lamp on the penalty kill.
Harvest 15-year-old winger Koal Roberts finished out the second period's scoring with only 1:14 left in it.
"Roberts has taken no time to make an impact for us," says Odgers on Roberts who has two goals and one apple in three games as a Harvest. "He plays hard and has been clicking with his linemates."
The Harvest and Generals exchanged goals in the final period to close out the 6-4 game, Rykr Cole scored for Moose Jaw and Eric Meyer for Yorkton in that order.
Beating the Generals was somewhat revenge for the Harvest. The last time these two clubs met Moose Jaw shut them out 3-0 in the Farrell Agencies Arena.
"I think it was a little extra motivation for the guys," says Odgers. "They came into our own barn last time and beat us pretty bad. It is always nice to beat a team that got the best of you the time before. We wanted the win, stuck to our game plan, and came out on top."
Odgers also noted his squad was feeding off the momentum they gained from their previous three consecutive wins over the Saskatoon Blazers, Saskatoon Contacts, and Notre Dame Argos.
"The guys feel good and it shows on the ice," says Odgers, former captain of the San Jose Sharks. "They're feeling a lot more confident than they were at the start of the season."
The 15-14-2-2 Harvest now sits in seventh spot. They are two-points back of the Tisdale Trojans for sixth place, five-points up on the eighth-place Saskatoon Blazers, and seven-points ahead of the Notre Dame Argos, who sit outside the playoff picture in ninth spot.
"We now know we can make the playoffs," says Odgers. "We have had a great second half and just want to keep climbing the standings."
The Harvest's next game is against the Regina Pat Canadians on Wednesday, January 23 at home in the Farrell Agencies Arena.
"Five wins in a row would be huge," says Odgers. "We have a game plan and are just going to stick to it. Regina is a good team, but we know we can beat them if we play like we recently have."
