The Yorkton UCT聽 Terriers are one step closer to repeating as SBAAHL playoff champions.
Yorkton, the SBAAHL鈥檚 regular season champions with a record of 30-1-0, completely dominated their Highway 10 rivals, taking Game One on Wednesday 4-1 in Yorkton before dismantling the Mils 8-1 in Game Two at Melville鈥檚 Horizon Credit Union Centre to take the three game series two-games-to-none to advance to the 麻豆传媒AV Division semi-final where they will now face the Estevan TS&M Bruins.
Game One
The UCT Terriers headed into their first playoff game winners of their last 19 SBAAHL games, but with not playing since February 14 the question was whether they could continue their SBAAHL dominance or not.
The question was answered less than five minutes into the opening frame as Michael Coleridge, who had nine goals in the regular season, put the puck past Melville goaltender Tyler Harasymuk for a 1-0 Yorkton lead.
Melville鈥檚 Cole Stevenson tied the game four minutes later when his shot eluded UCT Terrier net minder Nolan Maier, however Yorkton would regain their one goal advantage before the end of the period when sniper Brett Kemp snapped the puck past Harasymuk and into the back of the Millionaire goal for a 2-1 Yorkton lead through 20 minutes.
Kemp once again showed his offensive talents by potting his second goal of the night for a 3-1 UCT Terrier lead just 6:28 into the second period before hulking Yorkton blueliner Reid Perepeluk made it 4-1 Yorkton when he blasted a shot past Harasymuk for his first goal of the postseason with 61 seconds left in the frame.
聽The 4-1 lead proved to be the final score as neither team could find a way to solve the goalies in the last 20 minutes, despite both teams putting a significant amount of rubber on net (Yorkton had 14 shots, Melville nine).
Maier picked up the win turning aside 18-of-19 Melville shots while Harasymuk shouldered the defeat stopping 31-of-35 Yorkton attempts.
Following the game Yorkton head coach Graham Garrett said that he was happy with the win, despite the team not playing its best brand of hockey. 鈥淚 thought we were a little rusty that first game. We were missing a lot of passes, missing the net on some good opportunities,鈥� offered the UCT Terrier head coach, adding that the first two periods were satisfactory but the third was less-than-acceptable. 鈥淚 thought we played well, especially in the first two periods.
The third period I thought we got a little bit away from our game and gave them a little bit of momentum at the end of the game.鈥�
Game Two
The rust that coach Garrett noticed in Game One was completely nonexistent in Game Two as the UCT Terriers completely destroyed the hapless Melville Millionaires, ending the Mils鈥� season in the form of an 8-1 shellacking.
Regular season scoring champion Carson Miller got the offence underway very early on in the first period when he put the puck past Melville goaltender Levi Horn just 1:23 into the game.
Kemp increased the UCT Terrier lead to two with his third goal of the series with 7:43 left in the period before Perepeluk鈥檚 second of the playoffs made it 3-0 via the power play to give Yorkton a 3-0 lead after just 20 minutes of play.
Melville defenceman Tyler Pryhitka cut the Yorkton lead to two at 3-1 1:24 into the second period, however the UCT Terriers quickly regained their three goal advantage when first year defenceman Kaeden Korczak rifled the puck past Horn just one minute, two seconds after Pryhitka鈥檚 goal.
Coleridge鈥檚 second marker of the series made it 5-1 Yorkton before Miller scored his second and third goals of the game to complete the hattrick and make it a 7-1 Yorkton lead after 40 minutes.
The UCT Terriers rounded out their offensive onslaught with a third period goal by Kemp, his fourth of the series, to complete the 8-1 win and eliminate the Mils from the SBAAHL postseason.
Dakota Berezowski picked up the win between the Yorkton pipes thwarting 17-of-18 Melville shots while Horn took the loss stopping 27 UCT Terrier chances.
鈥淭oday I thought we did what we needed to do,鈥� mentioned coach Garrett, continuing, 鈥淲e got pucks deep, we created our offence.
鈥淲e won the special teams battle and in the end we gave them nothing and were able to put pucks in the net and goals on the board.鈥�
But while they were indeed able to fill the net, one thing that Garrett noticed must change is the way the UCT Terrier defence handled the puck in the Melville series. 鈥淚 thought today they took too many hits that they didn鈥檛 need to take,鈥� offered Garrett on his blueline corps. 鈥淗ad they moved the puck quicker or got back and got the puck quicker then maybe they wouldn鈥檛 have taken some of hits that they took and we wouldn鈥檛 of have had some of the giveaways that did give them a couple of opportunities.鈥� With that being said, however, Garrett is also aware that his defencemen are some of the best in the league. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got some good defensemen back there that move the puck well and can be physical when they need to be, so I know they鈥檒l only get better.鈥�
Up next
The Yorkton UCT Terriers next action will see them take on the Estevan TS&M Bruins in SBAAHL 麻豆传媒AV Division semi-final action. The two teams split the season series with each team winning one game (Estevan 5-4, Yorkton 11-2). Estevan was the only team to defeat the UCT Terriers in the regular season.
Game One went last night in Yorkton but as of press time results were not available.
Game Two is set for Friday night in Estevan with Game Three (if needed) taking place Saturday night (6:30p.m.) at the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton.
