The Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers ended their 2013-14 regular season with two dominant performances on the weekend.
The Terriers hammered the Estevan TS & M Bruins at the Farrell Agencies Arena 9-3 on Friday.
They then obliterated the Saskatoon Outlaws 8-2 to finish the regular season at 25-5-1, second in the 22 team SBAAHL and second in the Southern Division, behind only the Prairie Storm (29-2-0) on both occasions.
Friday's 9-3 victory was even sweeter for the UCT Terriers as they gained their revenge for the 4-2 loss to the Bruins back on Tuesday, January 21.
It didn't take long for the Terriers to find the back of the net on Friday.
Kaeden Taphorn snapped his 16th of the season past Bruins goalie Ethan Veroba to give Yorkton a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
Carson Welke made it 2-0 three minutes and 46 seconds later when he deftly redirected the Cody Dubas point shot past Veroba and into the back of the net for a 2-0 Terrier lead.
A shorthanded breakaway goal from McKenzie Welke made it 3-0 before Carson Welke chased Veroba from the net when he walked out of the corner and fired the puck past Veroba from a sharp angle to make it 4-0.
Brett Kemp made it 5-0 before the first period ended when he was hauled down from behind but still managed to get a shot off that went past new Bruins netminder Jeremy Dumaine and into the back of the net.
Two unassisted goals by the Bruins got the visitors back into the game emotionally but a Carson Miller powerplay goal quickly followed by a Keenan Taphorn tally knocked any thought of a comeback out of the minds of the TS & M Bruins.
Estevan would score one more goal in the third while the Terriers would add two more, one each from McKenzie Welke and Kaeden Taphorn, to take the game by a 9-3 score.
Austin Hilderman got the win in net for the Terriers turning aside 12 of 15 shots while Ethan Veroba was tagged with the loss.
Graham Garrett, head coach for the Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers, felt that the convincing 9-3 win was due to the work ethic his team put forth; something that he felt was lacking back on January 21 in Estevan. "We outshot them almost identical to the last game. The difference tonight was we worked harder to make sure the pucks went in this time," offered Garrett. "We got three goals that were dirty where guys just went in and worked harder than their defence and goaltender. I think that was the difference tonight from when we were in Estevan."
The UCT Terriers hosted the Saskatoon Outlaws on Saturday evening and fell behind early when Outlaws forward Ethan Hill beat Terriers goalie Alex Geddes to make it 1-0.
UCT Terriers offensive dynamo Carson Miller made sure his team didn't trail after one period, however. The talented first year bantam centre took the Kaleb Bulych pass and danced around Outlaws defenceman Jake Schlosser before taking the puck to the front of the net and beating Saskatoon goalie Mathew Henry with a beautiful backhand shot with just 19 seconds left in the period.
Noah Bazowsky gave the visitors a 2-1 lead just 22 seconds into the second period.
However the Outlaws goal simply seemed to enrage Yorkton as the UCT Terriers scored the next seven goals, four in the second and three in the third, to take the game 8-2.
Derrick Budz and Cason Miller both led the way with two goals while McKenzie Welke, Carson Welke, Keenan Taphorn and Tyler Stratechuk also found the back of the net in the win.
While his team eventually dominated the game, head coach Graham Garrett felt that the Outlaws played well against his Terriers early on, but were simply done in by the tenacious forechecking of Yorkton. "I thought they were a very good skating team and sometimes you have to give credit to the other team and their players," offered Garrett, continuing, "They skated with us and pushed us a little bit in the first.
"But when we do the things we need to do and get our forecheck going, we start taking over hockey games and start tiring their guys out and as the games goes on and we wear them down we create more opportunities for ourselves and more goals."
Next action
The Yorkton Bantam UCT Terriers do not know when they'll be playing next. What they do know, however, is who they will be playing.
The second place Terriers will take on the seventh Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.
The UCT Terriers went 2-0 against Moose Jaw in the regular season, outscoring the Warriors 18-5 in the process (12-1 and 6-4).
