The Yorkton Xerox Terriers of the SBAAHL put together three impressive victories recently, thumping Melville 13-0 last Wednesday before doubling up Northeast 4-2 on Saturday and edging the North Division leading Humboldt Broncos 3-2 on Sunday to run their undefeated streak to 16 straight games (13-0-3).
The three recent victories have kept the Xerox Terriers (14-1-3, 31 pts) in first place in the South Division, three points ahead of Estevan (12-3-4, 28 pts) and 14 clear of third place Weyburn (7-7-3, 17 pts).
The Regina Aces (6-5-2, 14 pts) are fourth, the Monarchs (6-7-1, 13 pts) sit in fifth and the Pat Blues (5-9-2, 12 pts) are sixth, while Moose Jaw (4-9-4, 12 pts) and the Prairie Storm (5-6-1, 11 pts) round out the top eight in seventh and eighth respectively. Notre Dame (4-13-2, 10 pts), Swift Current (1-9-4, six pts) and Melville (0-13-0, 0 pts) sit on the outside looking in.
Humboldt (10-2-3) continues to lead the North with 23 points, one ahead of the Saskatoon Generals (10-4-2, 22 pts) and two up on Prince Albert (10-5-1 (21 pts).
Sask Valley (9-5-2, 20 pts) is fourth, the Stallions (8-4-3, 19 pts) are in fifth and the Outlaws (7-5-4, 18 pts) are sixth.
Northeast (7-6-2, 16 pts) sits in seventh place in the North while the Saskatoon Frostbite (5-7-4, 14 pts) hold down eighth place for the time being, just two points ahead of West Central (3-6-6, 12 pts) and five clear of the basement dwelling Battlefords Stars (3-10-3, nine pts).
Big win weekend
The Xerox Terriers opened the weekend up with a 4-2 win over the Northeast Wolfpack at the Tisdale Rec-Plex Saturday evening.
The hometown Wolfpack opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game when Luc Marleau put the puck past Terrier net minder Spencer Welke for a 1-0 Northeast advantage.
Yorkton captain Aiden Bulych would even the game at one just over five minutes later, depositing the puck behind Tanner Martin and just one minute later Colby Vranai did the same, beating Martin for Yorkton’s second goal of the period to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play.
Bulych’s second of the evening 40 seconds into the middle frame made it 3-1 and stood up to be the game winner as the two teams traded third period goals, Northeast’s being tallied by Parker Fofonoff while Massen Ziola scored for Yorkton, as Yorkton came away with a 4-2 win.
Less than a day later and the Xerox Terriers were back in action, this time taking on the North Division leading Humboldt Broncos in a battle of the top two teams in the league.
Once again Yorkton found themselves down early as Humboldt’s Cael Zimmerman put his 24th goal of the season past Yorkton goaltender Nolan Maier for a 1-0 Bronco lead just 42 seconds into the game.
However that one goal advantage didn’t last long as hulking Yorkton defenceman Carson Dereniwsky hammered a puck through Ryland Pronych to tie the game at one with 14:02 remaining in the period.
An Ethan Evanovich goal just under two minutes later made it 2-1 Yorkton after 20 minutes; a score that would last until the midway point of the third period when Zimmerman’s second of the game drew the home side even.
It looked as if the game would end in that same 2-2 score, but with less than a minute to go in the game Yorkton’s Kishaun Gervais broke free and beat Pronych for what would be the game winning goal in a 3-2 Yorkton win.
Pronych took the loss for Humboldt stopping 29-of-32 Yorkton shots while Maier picked up the win between the Yorkton pipes turning aside 41-of-43 Bronco attempts. “Nolan Maier had an exceptional game and he played solid,” said Cross of his goaltender, adding that while Maier had an outstanding game, his defence also had a strong performance against Humboldt. “Maier was making those big saves but the boys were clearing out traffic in front for him so he could cover up the rebounds.
“There was a lot of net traffic and it was a grind, but it was a team effort all the way through and as a team I thought it was probably the best defensive game that we’ve played all year.”
Last Wednesday
The Xerox Terriers started December off on the right foot last Wednesday, December 2, dismantling the visiting Melville Millionaires 13-0 at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Ethan Evanovich, Aiden Bulych, Zach McIntyre, Colby Vranai and Massen Ziola all scored twice in the lopsided victory with singles being added by Carson Dereniwsky, Jake Huska and Ryder Korczak.
Evan Matatall and Jackson Berezowski had three assists each while only three members of the Xerox Terriers – Vaughn Wilgosh, Josh Herman and William Hauber – were held off the scoresheet.
Up next
The next action for the Yorkton Xerox Terriers of the SBAAHL will be Friday, December 18 when they host the Regina Aces at 7:30p.m. at the Kinsmen Arena.
