It was another busy weekend in the Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey League with a full slate of games Friday and another busy night Saturday.
The marquee matchup Friday night was between the Hafford Hawks and the Meota Combines in a rematch of last year's championship series.
It was also a battle between two of the top teams in the league (along with Shellbrook Silvertips). In the end, the Hawks prevailed 3-2 in a game that needed overtime before it was settled.
The high-scoring Ryan Scheafer scored twice and Scott Thompson had one goal for the hometown Hawks, while Brett Miller and Michael Pylypow scored for the Combines.
The other team battling for the league lead, the Shellbrook Silvertips, were also in action Friday. Their opponents were the Battleford Beaver Blues who ended up on the short end of a 12-5 road defeat to the Silvertips.
Devon Dicus had a hat trick and Brett Mason and Parker Turner each had two-goal nights for Shellbrook. Dylan Smith also had a goal and two assists to bring his season totals to 36 goals and 55 points, leading the league to that point.
Keegan Sparrow had two goals and an assist in the loss for Battleford. Jordan Keller, Brent Salzl and Tyler Wasmuth also scored for the Blues.
In other Friday results, Maymont Settlers beat Spiritwood Timberwolves 2-1. Layken Heidt and Kyle Litchenwald scored for Maymont in their home-ice win.
In Cut Knife, the Edam Three Stars beat the Cut Knife Colts 6-2. Brody Roach had a hat trick for Edam and Mitch Wall had two goals for the Three Stars.
Game report: Meota 10 Glaslyn 3
Three games were on the schedule Saturday night and among those in action were the Meota Combines, back home at the Civic Centre, facing the cellar-dwelling Glaslyn North Stars with only four points in this SPHL campaign so far.
Not surprisingly, the powerful Combines opened the scoring as Marc Migneault scored from Bo Gervais and Brad Weber with 4:43 left in the first period.
Glaslyn tied the game early in the second on a Damien Nordell goal, but Meota went back in front for good when Brett Miller scored about five minutes into the frame.
They extended the margin by two more as Miller scored again and Michael Pylypow added one as well for the Combines.
Meota added two more late in the period on goals by Miller, for the hat trick, and O'Neil Baillargeon with 35 seconds left, making it 6-1 through two.
In the third, the Combines added three more from Kyle Gregoire, Mike Pylypow (his second) and Gervais before Nordell got his second for the North Stars.
Meota's Levin Floen and Glaslyn's Travis Haggel finished the scoring in a 10-3 Meota laugher at the Civic Centre.
Also of note: Brad Weber had a six assist night in the win for the Combines.
Other action from Saturday saw Edam beat Radisson 9-3 and Hafford beat Battleford 7-3. Maymont and Cut Knife were set to meet Sunday in the last SPHL contest of the weekend.
