YORKTON - For the first time in a long time, the Yorkton Terriers hit the ice in front of a crowd as they hosted the Estevan Bruins.
The Terriers were looking to bounce back after a 2-1 loss to Estevan the previous night.
Yorkton would get on the board first as Maddux Nollski (1) scored 12 minutes into the game.
In the second period, the Bruins would quickly tie things up, scoring 11 seconds into the period, and take the lead with just three minutes left to go.
The Terriers would start the period on the powerplay, but the Bruins scored shorthanded once again in the first minute of the period. Yorkton would answer back as Clay Sleeva (1) scored on the same powerplay to bring them within one. Estevan would later score on a powerplay of their own to give them a two-goal advantage, but Yorkton would once again cut the lead to one as Karsten Kruska (2) scored. Despite a late surge, Yorkton would be unable to complete the comeback as they fell to 0-2 on the season.
Matt Hehr, the head coach and general manager with the Terriers, felt that his team waited too long to start pushing the pace of play.
"We give up two goals in the first minute of the second and third period. That really puts us behind the eight-ball," he said. "Overall, we had our chances, but the execution just wasn't there."
Hehr said that they need to work on the little things going forward.
"We need to be harder on pucks. I thought we lost a lot of puck battles, and hats off to Estevan. They played a great two sets this weekend; they are a very stingy defensively and shut us down. We just need a better work ethic to really put the put in the back of the net."
One of the positives Hehr took away from the weekend was how the younger players played.
"I thought our young guys stepped up well. Our 18, 19-year-old guys that haven't really played an SJHL game, and these were there first two, and they looked like veterans out there, so I think that's a very big positive going forward," he said. "For the most part, I felt we were in both games and a bounce here, a bounce there, and it could have went the other way. We just got to start getting better as the season goes on."
The Terriers are in action on Tuesday as they travel to Melfort.
