The Yorkton Xerox Terriers 鈥� formerly the UCT Terriers - opened up their 2015/16 SBAAHL regular season with a pair of home games this past weekend, first shutting out the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-0 at the Farrell Agencies Arena on Saturday night before dropping a 7-5 decision to the Estevan TS&M Bruins Sunday afternoon at the Kinsmen Arena.
Shutout Saturday
Three different Xerox Terriers found the back of the net and second year goaltender Nolan Maier turned aside all 20 shots as the Yorkton Xerox Terriers shutout the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-0 to open up the defence of their 2014/15 SBAAHL title on a positive note.
First year bantam Ryder Korczak opened the scoring for Yorkton late in the first period via the powerplay when he finished off some excellent cycle work by snapping the puck top shelf blocker side past Moose Jaw netminder Bryan Thomson to give the Xerox Terriers a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The second period was nearly identical to the first, with Yorkton dominating play. However Thomson was able to keep Moose Jaw to within a goal for nearly the entire frame until Terrier captain Aiden Bulych fired home his first of the season with under two minutes remaining in the second period to double the Yorkton lead to 2-0.
A third period marker by Kishaun Gervais 9:28 into the final period put an end to any Moose Jaw hope of a comeback, as the Yorkton Xerox Terriers successfully opened the SBAAHL regular season with a dominant 3-0 win.
Following the game new Bantam 鈥楢A鈥� head coach Dan Cross 鈥� who spent the last two years coaching the Yorkton RawTec Maulers of the SMAAAHL 鈥� said that the veteran presence of the four returning players, Maier, Bulych, forward Zach McIntyre and blueliner Carson Dereniwsky, definitely factored into the season opening win. 鈥淏oth Bulych and McIntyre are big guys and they were a force to be reckoned with out there. They both have good, strong shots and aren鈥檛 afraid of contact,鈥� offered Cross, continuing, 鈥渁nd Dereniwsky and Maier are very solid for us. Dereniwsky is really our only returning defenceman, but he鈥檚 big and strong while Maier is one of the best goalies in the province and he showed that tonight. Moose Jaw just couldn鈥檛 get anything past him.鈥�
Sunday loss
One day after their 3-0 season opening victory, the Xerox Terriers were back in action, this time taking on the visiting Estevan TS&M Bruins at the Kinsmen Arena.
The visitors got on the board first, when Cole Brooks put the puck past Yorkton goalie Spencer Welke for a 1-0 Estevan lead 4:38 into the first period.
Just over a minute later the Bruins increased their lead, as second year forward Mason Strutt scored his first of three on the night, depositing the puck behind Welke with 14:01 remaining in the game.
A powerplay goal by Gervais with 8:47 left in the frame cut the Estevan lead in half at 2-1, and before the first Yorkton goal could be announced a second was already being scored as Ethan Evanovich evened the game at two just 14 seconds later with his first of the season.
The game would remain tied for a grand total of 21 seconds however, as the Bruins regained their lead when Dalton Schrader put the puck past Welke for the third Estevan tally of the period.
A second Gervais goal with just under seven minutes left in the period tied the game at three and rounded out the six-goal first period.
The hometown Yorkton Xerox Terriers took their first lead of the game 4:43 into the second period on a Colby Vranai goal, however a pair of Estevan goals late in the period, one by Triston Sorenson and the other by Strutt, gave the visitors a 5-4 lead after 40 minutes.
聽Estevan鈥檚 Liam Rutten increased the Bruin lead to two with his first of the season just under three minutes into the final period, but Gervais would cap off his hat-trick with his third goal of the game and fourth of the season to once again bring Yorkton to within one goal.
Unfortunately that鈥檚 as close as they would get as Estevan鈥檚 Strutt would complete a hat-trick of his own for the final goal of the game in a 7-5 Yorkton loss. Yorkton鈥檚 Welke shouldered the loss for the Xerox Terriers while Bryson Garton took the win for the Bruins. 鈥淚 think his nerves got to him a little bit,鈥� Cross said of Welke, adding that the bantam 鈥楢A鈥� level is much quicker than the peewee 鈥楢A鈥� league. 鈥淚t was his first bantam 鈥楢A鈥� game and he probably wishes he could have a few of them back, but as a whole he鈥檚 going to play and he鈥檚 only going to get better.鈥�
Cross went on to mention that while losing is never a good thing, he isn鈥檛 necessarily disappointed with a loss in the second game of a 30 game season. 鈥淚鈥檓 not upset with how we played at all. It鈥檚 the beginning of the year and I thought we played hard both games,鈥� offered Cross. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of first years on our team this year and body contact is new to them this year so it takes a few games for them to adjust to that, but I thought they did a good job and like I said, it was unfortunate because I thought we played well enough to win today but that鈥檚 just how the puck bounces sometimes.鈥�
Next action
The next action for the Yorkton Xerox Terriers of the SBAAHL will be Wednesday, Oct. 7, when they host the Notre Dame Hounds at the Farrell Agencies Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00pm.
