The Yorkton Terriers AA bantam hockey team is now only one-win back of a .500 record after beating the Moose Jaw Warriors 6-3 and the Prairie Storm 4-1 at home over the weekend.
The Terriers kicked off the weekend against Moose Jaw on Friday.
Despite outshooting the Warriors 16-6 in the first period, Yorkton went into the first intermission down by a goal. Zach Hagerman notched an unassisted marker with just less than five minutes left in the period for the Warriors.
Terriers forward Brennan Watson took over the second period, scoring back-to-back goals in the last 10 minutes.
Warriors' Hangerman tied the game up at two early in the third for his second on the night.
But Terriers' Logan Foster quickly put Yorkton back in front just over two minutes later.
The Terriers' power play went to town late in the third after Moose Jaw became very familiar with the Kinsmen Arena's sin bin. Jake Kustra scored his first on the year, Watson finished out his hat trick, and team captain Kylan Shea netted Yorkton's sixth goal on the man advantage.
Terriers head coach Damon Kustra couldn't be happier with the Terriers' performance on the power play.
"Our power play really came up big tonight," says Kustra. "We cycled the puck well and got the bounces we needed."
Moose Jaw's Jeremy Bisson scored a goal with five seconds left in the game, but it was obviously too little too late with the Warriors still down by three.
The Terriers didn't let up in their second contest of the weekend, beating the Storm 4-1 on Saturday.
J.J. Fofonoff scored a huge momentum-shifting goal with just 30 second left in the first period to give Yorkton a 1-0 lead heading into the second.
The Terriers continued their trend of scoring late-period goals with Matthew Wilgosh and McKenzie Welke potting markers with just under two minutes left in the second.
Tyler Stratechuk put the game out of reach in the third, giving Yorkton a four-goal lead with roughly 15 minutes left in the match.
The Storm's Jared Dmytriw spoiled Terriers puck-stopper Braidon Berezowski's perfect game by sneaking one past him in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Nonetheless, having stopped 35 of 36 shots, Berezowski was still Yorkton's hero of the night.
Kustra believes his squad went into the weekend with momentum in their favour after their strong showing in a Prince Albert tournament the weekend before, where they made it to the A semi-finals.
"I think we're getting some momentum from the PA tournament," says Kustra. "We have a lot of young guys and they're learning to play in the league. Our record has been better as of late and we are growing as a team."
The Terriers are starting to climb the standings after their poor 3-6-3 start. They're only one-point back of the Storm and Regina Silver Foxes for second-place in the Â鶹´«Ã½AV Division.
Kustra believes his squad got off to a slow start because of their lack of experience.
"I think we've had a tough first half because we're a young team," says Kustra. "We have eight guys that played peewee hockey last year, so some adjusting there. And we only have four returning players, so the majority of our team are rookies. I've also had to do some adjusting to my coaching style."
The Terriers head coach believes the sky is the limit for his club in the second half.
"We want to continue winning and go on to win the league," he said.
Although it seems the odds of the Terriers winning the bantam AA league are quite bleak, they are headed in the right direction to making some noise in the post-season.
Before heading into their Christmas break, the Terriers square off against the Regina Monarchs on Friday and the Swift Current Kabos Raiders on Saturday in the Farrell Agency Arena.
