The Yorkton RawTec Maulers have extended their current winning streak to four games thanks to a pair of wins in North Battleford on the weekend.
听
鈥淚t鈥檚 our second four-game winning streak of the season,鈥� said Mauler coach Kevin Rawlick, who added he has seen better things in the recent run. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e come out as what we should be.鈥�
听
The Maulers now sport a record of 14-12-1-1 for 30 points, and sixth spot in the Saskatchewan AAA Midget Hockey League. They are 17-points back of the front-running Notre Dame Hounds. Regina sits second, Prince Albert third, Tisdale fourth and Swift Current fifth, five points up on Yorkton.
听
Rawlick said the next step in the team鈥檚 development is to take their game to the next level in terms of competing with the league鈥檚 top teams.
听
鈥淭he Notre Dame Hounds are absolutely fantastic this year,鈥� he said.
听
The Maulers got off to a good start in the afternoon start Saturday when Mackenzie Walkington and Jackson Berezowski scoring in the opening four-minutes.
听
Ty Mosimann cut into the lead for the host Stars at the mid-way point of the first frame.
听
But a 1:05 later Ryder Pierson got that one back for Yorkton, and then with 4:09 left in the frame Danton LHeureux added a powerplay goal for the Maulers to enjoy a 4-1 lead after 20-minutes.
听
The Stars battled back with two powerplay goals in the opening minutes of the second period from Damon McKenzie and Dylan Esau to cut the lead to 4-3.
听
The Maulers took over the scoring in the second with Aiden Bulych, Troy Bryska and Tanner Hoffman to make it a 7-3 lead for Yorkton.
听
Adam Beckman scored 1:04 into the third for the Stars, but that would be it for the host team, while the Maulers rolled up two more goals from Berezowski and Ryder Korczak for the 9-4 win.
听
Jordan Schmuland was in the Yorkton net for the win facing 25-shots, while Joseph Young faced 42-shots in the loss in the Star net.
听
Rawlick said the team went up to Saskatoon Friday, so that the trip into North Battleford Saturday morning for the afternoon game so that the team would not be fatigued from the long trip and early game time. It was a game plan which seemed to work out.
听
After the big win Rawlick said the team did some additional team building, heading back into Saskatoon to watch the Western Hockey League Blades take on the Kelowna Rockets.
听
Sunday the teams met again, in what would be a much lower scoring affair.
听
Berezowski scored on the powerplay 52-seconds into the game to give Yorkton a lead. He would be back to score two goals in the final minute of the second period for a natural hat trick.
听
In the third Adam Beckman would give the Stars hope with a goal 43-seconds into the third, but that would be the end of scoring in a 3-1 win for the Maulers.
听
Dakota Berezowski faced 38-shots in the Mauler net for the win, while Carter Serhyenko took the loss in the Battlefords goal facing 40-shots.
听
Up next the Maulers have one more game before their Christmas break, facing off with the Regina Pat Canadians at the Farrell Agencies Arena. The game goes tonight (Wednesday), with an 8 p.m. start. Regina sits second in the league at present.
听
Rawlick said the game against Regina will be something of a midseason measuring stick, adding 鈥渋t won鈥檛 be measured by wins and losses,鈥� but as a look at how well the team is doing in terms of 鈥渢he process.鈥�
听
鈥淎re we going to be disciplined in our systems?鈥� he asked.
听
Rawlick also noted of late the Maulers have had a good powerplay.
听
鈥淲e want to see how it measures up?鈥� he said.
And counter to that, Rawlick said if the Pat Canadians get up in the game, he wants to see how his team responds, expecting pushback, but with the discipline of taking penalties.
