The Bienfait Memorial Arena was nearly the scene of one of the Estevan Warriors' greatest moments of all time.
With 29.1 seconds on the clock Sunday afternoon, the Warriors' captain Kaden Chrest scored his fourth goal of the game – shorthanded on a breakaway no less – against the Moose Jaw Red Mustangs to take the lead 6-5. But with 16.1 seconds left, Moose Jaw's Atley Calvert potted his fifth of the game to re-tie the game and there it stood as the final of the Queen City Box Lacrosse League game.
What made the final result all the more impressive is that the Red Mustangs earlier this year beat the Warriors 13-3 in Moose Jaw.
“We didn't really change a lot,” said Warriors coach Darcey Williams. “The kids this year have improved immensely from the beginning of the year to where we are now. This game, this was one of the best games they've played this year as far as I'm concerned.”
One of the things they did work on was the penalty kill, which served them well as they killed off a full five minute advantage in the second period as they grew a lead to 4-2 by the end of the frame.
“That penalty kill, I was really impressed because all year we've never killed off a penalty like that,” Williams said.
Earlier in the weekend, they lost 11-0 to the Rush in Regina and played another game the Regina Rock, losing 5-3. Chrest, Kalen Stang and Tanner Hall scored for the Warriors in that game.
Now with the experience of playing with a team like Moose Jaw, the Warriors will move on with the rest of the season. The Warriors' next action is Saturday against the Regina Attack at the Al Ritchie Arena in Regina.
“We've always had a stumbling block with Regina,” he said. “We had a four game winning streak but that was with Weyburn and Weyburn's a newer team in the league. They're getting better too.”
The Voltz weren't as fortunate in their short trip to Bienfait to play the Mustangs. After going down 5-0 in the first five minutes and 7-0 after the first period, the Voltz lost the game 12-2. Corby Lemcke scored shorthanded to break the goose egg for the Voltz and with a second on the clock in the second period, Nathan Wagstaff scored from his knees to beat the Moose Jaw keeper. from their coaching and their players,” said Voltz coach Trever McNabb of what they learn in a game against Moose Jaw. “They're very disciplined so we learn discipline... And it's a good experience for us. We pulled our goalie at the end of the game three or four times to give the kids the experience...
“By the end of the third, they were keeping up. They just didn't have the firepower to catch up in the end.”
In the Voltz' other games on the weekend, they travelled to Regina and lost 10-5 to the Regina Rush and a 7-5 win over the Regina Honeybadgers.
In the game against the Rush, the Voltz got two goals from Nathan Wagstaff and singles each from Tye Farnsworth, Kersey Hollingshead and Chase Foord. Their win over the Honeybadgers saw four goals from the stick of Wagstaff and two from Hollingshead. The other marker was scored by Logan Lang.
The Voltz will play a pair of games in Regina this weekend against the Axemen and the Outlaws.
