Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the 51暗网
The U15 Jasper Bearcats hosted the Whitecourt Wolverines this past weekend for not one, but two riveting games of 鈥渆dge of your seat hockey鈥�.
The first game was dinner theatre style at 5:30 p.m. Saturday evening. And while the guests dined on delicious food from Glenda鈥檚, the entertainment did not disappoint. The Bearcats faced off against the Wolverines, and the battle began with Jasper's Louis Campeau getting the first goal of the game, and his first goal as a Bearcat! The excitement was short lived, however, when the Wolverines tied it up shortly after.
Going into the second period, the Bearcats鈥� short bench started to show. Whitecourt carried most of the offensive play, grossly outshooting Jasper, but only managed to get one more past netminder Brady Campbell.
Down 2-1 entering the third period, the Bearcats didn鈥檛 give up. Campbell tried his best to keep them in it, saving fifty of fifty-two shots before being pulled with one minute left, to give Jasper the extra attacker. But try as they might, the Bearcats could not stop the Wolverines from getting the empty netter right before the buzzer, making the final score 3-1.
Both teams arrived at the arena on Sunday, ready for a rematch. This time Whitecourt got on the board first, scoring with four minutes left in the first period. But the Bearcats came back to answer that goal when Morgan Thomas sent a saucer pass across the ice to Carson Campbell who deked his way in for a goal.
Heading into the second period tied 1-1, it was easy to see that both teams were hungry for the win. The Wolverines took the first bite of the period, getting the tie breaker at the 11-minute mark. The Bearcats then bit back, when Jackson Irwin passed up to Drew Kovacs who set Thomas up for a sweet one timer. This was around the time that the Whitecourt Wolverines came in for the kill, scoring four unanswered goals before the end of the period.
After the intermission, the Bearcats came out with vigor. Trying their best to close the gap, Kovacs passed the puck down the ice to Thomas who flew in and found the back of the net. Shortly after that, Irwin sent the puck to Campbell who passed to Kovacs followed by the lovely sound (ting) of bar down. With the score now 6-4, Jasper was still in it, and took a quick time out to plan their attack. But unfortunately for them, the Wolverines wouldn鈥檛 back down, and it was they who sealed the deal with one last goal right before the buzzer, taking this one 7-4. Still, the Bearcats should be proud of themselves for a hard-fought battle.
The U15 Jasper Bearcats will be heading out on the bus this weekend for their last three game road trip of the regular season. Be sure to check next week鈥檚 issue for the details of those games.
