It was a mainly successful weekend for the Battlefords AAA Stars at home versus Swift Current.
The Stars beat the Legionnaires 6-3 in the first game Saturday afternoon at the Civic Centre, and then wound up in a 4-4 tie in Sunday action, taking three of a possible four points out of the weekend and lifting the team to first in the overall standings.
The first game Saturday saw the Stars race to a 4-0 lead by the second period. Goals by Spencer Bast, Troy Gerein and Graham Gove set the pace through the first period, and then a Josh Bly goal unassisted added to that total early in the second.
Chaseton Sare's goal midway through the second ended the shutout bid of Ryan Rewerts, who ended up stopping 25 of a possible 28 shots on the day. After that Kaleb Dahlgren's goal made it 5-1 while Tristan Hermanson scored on the power play to narrow the gap to 5-2 after two.
Sare's second goal of the game and a Stars marker from Josh LaFramboise rounded out a 6-3 final score. Kaleb Dahlgren was named Home Star of the game for the Battlefords while Sare received the Away Star honour for Swift Current.
The second game on Sunday was a penalty-filled affair that saw the Stars race to an early lead, but the Legionnaires ended up keeping it close and came back in the third period.
The Stars took a 2-0 lead on goals from Logan Nachtegaele and Mason Benning (on the power play). Bryce Hall narrowed the gap to 2-1 before Dalhgren's power play marker made it 3-1 after one for the Stars.
Jarret Gerlach made it 3-2 on the power play in the second but the Stars restored their two-goal lead when Gerein scored with three minutes left in the frame.
The third period was a close one but two goals from Kolby Johnson and Connor Odelein salvaged a point for the Legionnaires from their weekend versus the Stars. Overtime solved nothing, and the final score was 4-4 between the Stars and Legionnaires.
Rewerts stopped 25 of 29 shots on the day. Dahlgren was the home star and Shane Blomquist the away star.
The bottom line for the Stars is that they emerged from the weekend in first place in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League with a record of 8-2-2-1, good for 19 points. They moved one point ahead of Notre Dame Argos in the 12-team league.
The next action for the Stars is tonight, Nov. 7, versus the Saskatoon Contacts at the Civic Centre. Game time is 7pm.
