The Wawota Flyers won a pair of close, high-scoring games to open the Big Six Hockey League’s final versus the Yellow Grass Wheat Kings.
Wawota won Game 1 5-4 at home on March 11, and took Game 2 6-5 in Yellow Grass two nights later, to take the 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
Most of the scoring in Game 1 happened in the first half of the game, as the contest was tied at 2-2 after the first period, and the Flyers had a 5-3 lead midway through the second. Riley Riddell’s goal with 10:09 to play in the second proved to be the winner.
Yellow Grass scored once in the third to pull within a goal.
The Flyers scored four times in the first nine minutes of the first period of Game 2, and had a 5-1 lead after the first period. They had a 6-2 lead by the midway mark of the second period, but the Wheat Kings chipped away at the lead. Brock Appleyard had a hat trick for the Wheat Kings, including two goals in the final 70 seconds of the game to pull his team to within a goal.
Drake Bodie scored three times in the game for the Flyers, including the game winner midway through the second period.
Game 3 is scheduled for March 17 in Wawota, and Game 4 is March 19 in Yellow Grass. Game 5, if necessary, would be March 24 in Wawota, Game 6 would happen March 26 in Yellow Grass and Game 7 would be March 31 in Wawota.
The Flyers are seeking their second consecutive Big Six championship. The Wheat Kings, meanwhile, are trying to win the title in their first year in the league.
