The Estevan atom Avengers scored four unanswered third period goals to beat the Estevan Lightning 5-3 and capture the Estevan Atom Tournament bronze medal at the Civic Auditorium on Sunday.
“Our coach gave us a little pep talk to get fired up (during the second intermission),” said Avengers centre Ethan Desrosiers. “We started singing our song Let's Go Avengers and then I got the (game-winning) goal.”
The Avengers controlled the play from the opening faceoff with right wing Daylen George coming closest to beating Lightning goalie Cowan Ludtke about six minutes in with a blast from in close. Desrosiers set George up for another chance at the 12-minute mark wiring a pass into the slot for the speedy winger who one-timed the puck towards the top corner only to have Ludtke fire out his glove to make the save.
Lightning defenceman Corby Lemke found the back of the Avengers net three-and-a-half minutes later driving down the wing off a neutral zone faceoff before beating Avengers goaltender Jake Rubiletz with a shot from the bottom of the circle. Right wing Kashton Jesse made it 2-0 three minutes into the second period picking up a loose puck in the slot and slapping it home.
The Avengers stepped up the pressure after the second Lightning goal with forward Adam Bohlken finally beating Ludtke with 5:39 remaining in the middle period by batting in a rebound that dropped into the crease. Lightning left wing Harrison Froese replied two minutes later stuffing the puck between Rubiletz's pad and the post.
“Between the second and third period we had a talk that everyone had to play their position and had to step up to the plate because we weren't playing as good as we usually do,” said Avengers head coach Trevor Bourassa. “They pulled it off. They played their position and they started rushing and started getting under (the opposition's) skin.”
The Avengers' Kruz Shauf narrowed the lead to one at the 7:05 mark of the third period tapping in a centering pass from Rylan Entz. Off the ensuing faceoff, Entz took matters into his own hands rushing the puck into the Lightning zone and quickly firing it into a low corner of Ludtke's net.
Desrosiers scored the game winner with three minutes remaining by picking the top corner glove side from the bottom of the circle. Gibson potted the insurance marker 54 seconds later with a blast from the slot.
The Avengers went 1-1 through the round-robin portion of the tournament before losing 5-4 to the Yorkton Western Financial Terriers and beating the Melville Maniacs 9-6 in the playoffs to secure the berth in the bronze medal game. The Lightning also went 1-1 in the round robin, dropped their first game of the playoffs 4-1 to another Yorkton Terriers team and won their second 3-1 over the Swift Current Bandits. The Avonlea Thunder captured the Estevan Atom Tournament gold medal with a 8-0 win over the Yorkton Western Financial Terriers.
Bourassa said the Avengers and Lightning both play in the South East Minor Hockey League with their cross-town rivals sitting one spot above them in the standings. He said they share ice for practice and met once before at a tournament in Oxbow, but their first league game against each other won't occur until this Friday when they once again meet at the Civic Auditorium.
“They're a little bit tough, but we know we can beat them,” said Desrosiers. “We always come back (against) them.”
