The Bonnyville Sr. AA Pontiacs had a win and a loss on home ice this past weekend.
They celebrated a 4-3 victory over the Sylvan Lake Pirates on Saturday, Nov. 3, but fell to Red Deer 7-2 the next day.
Head coach Corey Wandler noted some new names to the roster helped the team during the games.
“We just had new guys step in this weekend, and we found a way to play with these teams. We got two points against Sylvan Lake (on Saturday), which was huge. (Sunday, Nov. 4) we played with the best team in the league for 40 minutes, and we just have to correct our starts... It’s about coming out of the gate hot,” he deailed.
Vanqueshing the Pirates
The Pontiacs hit the ice hoping to defeat the Pirates for a second time this season.
Sylvan Lake kept the home team off the scoreboard for most of the first period, finding the back of the net twice.
With seconds left in the first, Ryan Rancier added a point for the Pontiacs.
Bonnyville fought hard during the second frame, keeping the Pirates from adding to their score.
Denis Cadrin got his first goal of the night at 15:25, with an assist from Chase Tomlinson, to bring the score to 3-2.
Pontaic Tanner Corbel also added his name to the scoresheet with an unassisted goal.
Scoring the final goal of the night for the home team was Cadrin. He found the back of the net at 17:04.
The Pirates weren’t able to catch up, but did add one more to the soreboard before the final buzzer.
Hard loss against the Rustlers
The Pontiacs couldn’t keep their momentum goingwhen they faced off against the Red Deer Rustlers on Sunday, Nov. 4. The home team lost 7-2.
“We played the best team in the league, they’re undefeated, and we just had a slow start,” recalled Wandler.
The first period was quiet for the Pontiacs, with Red Deer racking up four goals before the end of the 20 minutes.
“It took us a while to get our legs going, I know once we did that we played with them for the rest of the game... We just had a bad start, and that kind of crippled us off the hop and we just couldn’t dig out of it,” Wandler explained.
The Rustlers got another point during the second.
Pontiac newcomer Dorian John scored his first goal since joining the team last week.
“It felt amazing... I was like ‘oh my God, did I score?’ I didn’t know how to react,” John exclaimed, adding he thought the team played hard overall.
While the Pontiacs continued their fight during the third, Red Deer added another point to the score board to bring it to 5-1.
Pontiac Brayden Burak got the puck past the Rustlers’ goaltender, but Red Deer quickly answered with one of their own to solidify their win before the clock ran out.
“We played with them for the second and third, so we know there’s some stuff to build off for this game going forward and into the next one. All around, they’ve got a pretty well-groomed team,” Wandler said.
The next game for the Sr. Pontiacs is in enemy territory. They will be facing the Westlock Warriors on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Their next home game is Saturday, Nov. 24 against the Daysland Northstars. Puck drop is 8 p.m.
