Both the Bantam Warriors and Midget Thunder teams took to the home court Monday at Affinity Place and knocked off Weyburn teams to make it to the second round of the playoffs.
The Warriors won 4-3 and the Thunder rolled to a 15-0 thrashing of the Weyburn teams, putting both teams closer to provincials.
The Warriors were down 2-1 going into the third period against a Thrashers team their coach felt should not have been that close.
“The first two periods, they were just dull, not playing well,” said Darcey Williams. “It's almost like they weren't warmed up.”
Weyburn scored their first goal of the game on an own goal on a misplay by a defenceman with 5:55 left in the first period. The Warriors tied up the game with a clean shot through by Layne Gilroy on the power play in the second period. Weyburn took a 2-1 lead on a power play goal with 2:07 left in the period.
“The third period, I don't know what happened to sort it out but it seemed like the whole team was different,” said Williams.
With crisper play from the Warriors, two goals game from Tanner Hall and one came from Jackson Miller. Although Weyburn scored late to pull to within one goal, it wasn't enough.
“The guys guys just had an off day and were lucky to squeak out the win,” Williams said.
The team moves to the next round of the playoffs, expected to be in Moose Jaw later this week against the Mustangs.
As for the Thunder, there isn't a lot to say about a game that was 15-0. The Thunder led 6-0 and 10-0 after the first two periods and were never in any real danger of not winning the game.
“They played well tonight but we still have some work to do,” said Thunder coach Jim Ludwig. “We know exactly where Weyburn's at. That's where we were a little while ago. They're going to be a good team too someday. It's all in game experience.”
The Thrashers were 0-12 in the regular season, giving up 127 goals and scoring only eight. The Thunder were 3-8-1 in the regular season – their only three wins coming against the Thrashers – and now play the league-leading Regina Rush (10-0-2) in the next round of the playoffs. Ludwig said they're a very skilled team.
“I think the biggest improvement I've seen in the guys is the passing and using each other and just playing good team offence.”
In the Pee Wee Voltz games on the weekend, the Voltz lost 9-3 to the Outlaws and won 7-6 over the Axemen Saturday, before wining 8-5 over the Outlaws Sunday in the playoff.
