After losing their first five games to open the PGLL season it is no secret that the rest of the Yorkton Bulldogs 2013 season in the Saskatchewan lacrosse league is a must win atmosphere. With all but three teams in the PGLL at .500 or worse, the Bulldogs were still very much alive going into their battle with the second place Saskatoon Steelers on Sunday.
To make the Bulldogs situation even better, all of their remaining three games were scheduled to be at home meaning that if the Bulldogs could get past the Steelers on Sunday, they would have a final weekend with two games at home and a wide open race in the standings to end the season.
Riding off a strong two periods against the league best Saskatoon Smash and their 6-4 win over the Prince Albert Predators, the Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead in the opening period to put the Steelers on notice that the hometown team was playing for keeps with high stakes on the line.
A defensive battle saw the Steelers trade roles with the Bulldogs in the second period, holding Yorkton scoreless while tying the game up at 3-3 going into a crucial final 20 minutes at the FAA with the Bulldogs needing to find a final push with twenty minutes of lacrosse left to play.
In a flashback to their first win of the season the Sunday before, it was a third period push that gave the Bulldogs the glory as they shut down the high powered second place Steelers in the third frame, scoring two of their own to escape with a 5-3 victory, creating a perfect scenario for the Bulldogs on the final weekend.
PGLL All-Star Louden Choptiuk was stellar in goal for the Bulldogs on Sunday, allowing just three goals as the Bulldogs stymied the Steelers, once again showing that the home advantage might just be the key to the Bulldogs winning ways.
The return of Jerry Fisher to the Bulldogs lineup for their home schedule and second half of the season was once again a key as Fisher now has eight assists and one goal in the three home games. Jackson Tetreault, Brennan Peleshytyk and Jayden Dozorec round out the Bulldogs top scorers at this point of the season.
Dozorec leads the Bulldogs in scoring with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points while Peleshytyk has one goal and 12 assists. Tetreault's seven goals and five assists give him 12 points on the year.
Next weekend will determine the Bulldogs fate as they take on the Regina Riot on Saturday and the Regina Rifles on Sunday to close their season.
Saturday's game against the Riot could see the Bulldogs crawl into seventh place as Yorkton could climb as high as fifth place if they can seal wins over the two Regina teams on the weekend, a real possibility seeing as the Rifles play Prince Albert on the road on Saturday before having to travel to Yorkton for the season finale on Sunday.
Two straight home wins have the Bulldogs riding high as the regular season closes. How high in the standings the Bulldogs finish is entirely up to them as they control their own destiny at home this weekend.
