The Yorkton Harvest wrapped up the regular season with a pair of tough losses at home to the visiting Notre Dame Argos.
Saturday the Argos squeaked out a narrow 4-3 win over the Harvest at the Farrell Agencies Arena.
Notre Dame took a one goal lead off the stick of Logan Saworski which they held for the entire first period.
The second period saw a seesaw battle as both teams found the back of the opposition net with a pair of goals apiece.
Kailum Gervais tied the game with a single handed goal midway through the second period.
Ryan Lough tilted the score in the Argos' favor late in the frame with a short handed goal.
Dustin Skilliter tied the game again for Yorkton assisted by Levi Cable and Ben Johnstone.
A power play goal by Evan Tironese handed the Argos a one goal lead after 40 minutes.
Cable tied the game early in the third period assisted by Devan Fafard.
James Dombowsky scored the game winner for Notre Dame to clinch the narrow 4-3 win.
The Argos returned with their A game Sunday afternoon, outshooting the Harvest 37-32 on the way to a 6-2 win.
Following a scoreless first period, Notre Dame marksmen struck four times, including three power play goals while holding Yorkton to a pair of markers.
Stephen Hiff struck first to give the Argos a 1-0 lead.
Jack Rodewald added the second power play marker to give Notre Dame a two goal lead.
Rylan Badduke pulled Yorkton within one goal midway through the period assisted by John Odgers and Tanner LeSann.
Ryley Stefanyshyn tied the game for Yorkton assisted by Dustin Minto and Kody Thue.
The Argos weren't done however as Luke Simpson notched the go-ahead goal for Notre Dame.
Tate Seguin added another with a little over one minute left in the period to give the Argos a two goal edge after two periods.
A pair of third period goals put the game away for the Argos as Seguin added his second of the game less than 30 seconds into the third period.
Dombowsky capped the scoring for Notre Dame adding the sixth goal of the game for the Argos.
Cable notched a late period power play marker assisted by Fafard and Denin Boesch. Unfortunately it was too little, too late as the Argos clinched both games of the weekend series.
The losses leave the Harvest in the eighth and final SMAAAHL playoff standing scheduled to meet the first place team, the Prince Albert Mintos.
Despite the double loss Harvest head coach Graham Garrett says the team played well for the most part over the weekend. "We saw the things that are going to give us the opportunity to win in the playoffs," he claims. With a few adjustments on special teams, Garrett believes the Harvest are going into the playoffs with an opportunity to win.
After the game late Sunday afternoon, it appeared the Harvest might face the Saskatoon Contacts in the first round of the playoffs. Garrett says the Harvest fared well against the Contacts during the regular season and feels confident the Harvest match up well with Saskatoon. "As long as we instill our game with the forecheck on them we'll have an opportunity to upset them.
Special teams are usually a huge factor in the playoffs, says Garrett. The Harvest will make necessary adjustments as they go through the playoffs, he offers.
The Harvest have been healthy for the last month and are going into the playoffs with a full bench.
It turns out the Harvest will actually square off against the Prince Albert Mintos in the first playoff round, not necessarily a team they preferred to meet initially. While both Mintos and Contacts finished the regular season with 67 points, the Mintos are first by virtue of their better record of 31 wins, eight losses, four ties and one overtime loss to Saskatoon's 31 wins, eight losses, three ties and two overtime losses.
The first playoff game will probably be played Tuesday in Prince Albert with the second game going Thursday night in Yorkton. This is tentative pending a finalized playoff schedule.
