A strong performance by goaltender Carter Park was simply not enough for the Yorkton Kinsmen Terriers in Game One of their SSMHL Midget ‘AA’ first round playoff series against the top seeded Notre Dame Bantam Hounds Saturday morning in Wilcox.
Park played brilliantly but was given no support in what ultimately resulted in a 3-0 shutout loss; a loss that Yorkton head coach Grant Ottenbreit feels could easily have been a win had his team been able to find the back of the net in a largely one-sided opening period. “We outplayed them pretty good in the first I thought and took it to them, I think we had them standing still,” offered a dejected Ottenbreit. “We were physical, we had our feet moving; we did everything that we wanted to do but score.
“We did everything that we wanted to do we just couldn’t put one on the back of the net and that was unfortunate.”
While the Kinsmen Terriers struggled to find the back of the net in Saturday’s Game One the Hounds did not, as Kyle Petten and Reece Newkirk scored for the Bantam Hounds in the second period and Jaydon Dureau added an empty netter to seal the deal with 1:25 left in the game to push the Kinsmen Terriers to the brink of elimination.
The Newkirk goal in particular was one that caused problems for the Kinsmen Terriers, as Newkirk took advantage of several Yorkton mistakes late in the period before scoring on a breakaway for a 2-0 lead. “It could have been a different game if they didn’t get that second goal there before the third period,” said Ottenbreit, adding that teams play differently depending on the deficit. “You play a little bit different two goals down than you would if you were just one goal down with a one shot difference.
“If it was just a one goal difference I think we wouldn’t have held the sticks as tight as we did and might have been able to capitalize on some bounces, but we didn’t.”
Up next
Game Two was scheduled for last night (Tuesday) in Yorkton, however results were unavailable at press time. Game Three (if needed) will take place Saturday, March 5 in Wilcox.
