Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the 51暗网
In what the U15 Bearcats are unofficially calling "The barn tour of Alberta" this past weekend, it didn't take them long to realize they're no farm team.
Barn number one was in Bon Accord, against the CNN Spurs. The Bearcats were feeling confident, however unsure heading into this arena. They had won their first tiering game of the season a week prior here in Jasper, 4-0 and goalie Brady Campbell was hoping for another shutout. Morgan Thomas did what he does best and started the Bearcats off by scoring two quick goals. Shortly after that, Drew Kovacs added to the lead, and then a little over half way into the first period, Thomas got his hat-trick goal. Around this time, Campbell must have been getting a little cold in his net, because the Spurs dug deep and snuck one past him, eliminating his dreams of another shutout. He did, however, keep the door shut after that goal and Jasper went on to win that game 21-1.
Barn number two was in Onaway, against the Onaway Eagles. A minute and a half into the first period, Joshua Doyle got the Bearcats started with a turnaround slapshot from the point that found its way past the Onaway goaltender. Thirty seconds later, Bode Hofhuis buried a Morgan Thomas rebound. The Bearcats continued to dominate the rest of the game right down to the end when Justin Bartziokas weaved his way through the whole convocation of Eagles netting the final goal, ending the game 16-1.
The third and final Barn of the weekend was in Bruderheim, against the Lamont Hawks. Once again, the Bearcats came out hungry. Jackson Irwin got them started quickly with a goal in the first minute, and even with the ice heavily tilted in Jasper's favour, they were unable to add to their lead until Irwin netted his second goal with five minutes left in the period. Drew Kovacs followed that up 13 seconds later, and Morgan Thomas finished the period with one more. Jasper took a 4-0 lead into the first intermission which seemed merciful considering the Bearcats outshot the Hawks 29-4. The Hawks got their talons out for the second and third periods, but Jasper went on to win this one 10-2.
Other Bearcats who scored some of the 47 goals this weekend include: Dustin Derksen, Carson Miller, Austin Schmidt and Carson Campbell. The purpose of these games is to figure out what tier each team belongs in. So, it will be interesting to find out what tier the Jasper U15 Bearcats fall into this season. Stay tuned.
