Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the 51暗网
The Jasper U15 Bearcats welcomed the Thorsby Thunder into their home this past Sunday. Hungry for a win after a four-game losing streak, they were happy to have their full roster back on the bench.
Drew Kovacs got Jasper started with a power play goal right out of the gate. Jackson Irwin with the assist. However, a few minutes later, Thorsby tied it up on a power play goal of their own. With eight minutes left in the period, after some chaos in front of the Thunder鈥檚 net, Kovacs passed to Casey Peel, who found Carson Campbell for another power play goal, breaking the tie. The Bearcats headed into the first intermission up 2-1.
The second period began with a shorthanded goal by Thorsby, tying it back up. Both teams fought hard, and with about six minutes left, Jasper regained the lead. Louis Campeau passed the puck back to Jackson Irwin on a scrambled faceoff, who then found Justin Bartziokas at the point who fired a shot that flew past everyone, including the goalie. The lead didn鈥檛 last long though, and the Bearcats found themselves trailing for the first time in this game when the Thunder scored back-to-back goals. Determined to get his name in this article, Morgan Thomas came out of Jasper鈥檚 end with the puck and danced past every single player on the ice, stopping only to take an amazing shot, tying the game back up with 42 seconds left in the period.
You can imagine how tense this game was by the third period, tied 4-4. There were a lot of penalty minutes for both teams, which meant a lot of power plays. Around the 12-minute mark, when Thorsby was in the box, Campbell took advantage of having an extra attacker and got the tie-breaking goal. Soon after getting the upper hand, the Bearcats found themselves in penalty trouble. The Thunder had a five on three for almost a full two minutes and once that was done, the Bearcats would be shorthanded for another four minutes. Suddenly, that one goal lead didn鈥檛 seem like enough. The defense got to work, and aided by some heroic saves by netminder Brady Campbell, the Jasper Bearcats managed to not only hold onto their lead, but Thomas also managed a shorthanded goal for insurance. Thorsby was unable to score in the third period, and the Bearcats got to feast on a delicious win after all. The final score was 6-4.
This coming weekend is the Jasper Bearcats鈥� home tournament. Come on down to the arena and show your support while also enjoying some entertaining hockey. Jasper plays at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday as well as a yet-to-be-determined time on Sunday depending on what final they end up in.
