It was the perfect way to end the season.
On Saturday, March 19, at the Barrhead Agrena the Pirates defeated their Thorsby Thunder opponents in the second game of a two-game total point series to win the 1660 League’s Bantam 3 Bronze Banner.
The first game of the series took place in Thorsby on Friday, March 18.
Greg Scheffler, Pirates’ head coach, said the two games couldn’t have been closer. In Friday’s game, Barrhead and Thorsby played to a two all tie.
“We were actually trailing 2 to 0 for the majority of the game. We did everything we could, but we couldn’t find a way to score on them, but finally with about seven or eight minutes left we were able to score,” he said. “There we were thinking we weren’t going to score a goal the whole game and then to have them score and then score another one in such a short period of time. It was just amazing.”
Scheffler said if the Pirates hadn’t tied that game it is doubtful they would have been able to take the Bronze banner.
Especially considering the fact in all the two teams previous meetings the Pirates had yet to record a win.
“They’re a tough team and in all our other games with them they have either just managed to beat us by a goal, or we tied them,” he said. “The boys really stepped up and under pressure Friday night they we’re able to score two goals in the third period.”
In Saturday’s game, Barrhead got off to a strong start with Colton Bondarchuck scoring just a little after the three-minute mark in the period. Brendan Bujold was credited with the assist.
Thorsby responded with a goal by Patrick Diehl at just over the halfway point of the period.
Barrhead responded a few minutes later with a goal by Sheldon Dewsnap assisted by Bujold.
In the second period, Thorsby struck first tying the game with a goal by Brody Martin at the five-and-a-half minute mark. At the halfway mark of the period, Luke Szybunka restored the Pirates’ lead with Bujold’s third assist of the game.
Once again Thorsby tied the game about four minutes later with a goal by Konrad Kohl.
However, the Pirates restored their lead less than a minute later thanks to a goal by Brayden Bain, assisted by Dylan Scheffler.
Starting the third period Thorsby proved their resilience tying it up for the fourth time in the game with a goal by Dustin Garrett less than three minutes into the final frame.
“It really was a back and forth game,” Scheffler said. “We would score one and then they would score one. I remember thinking whoever scores the last goal of the game would end up winning.”
Which is exactly what ended up happening. With a little less than five minutes left in the game, Pirates’ Ashton Gache scored the game-winning goal, with an assist by Jordan Kleinfeldt.
Hunter Ricci (who started) and Mathew Carstairs teamed up in goal to help the Pirates earn the win.
“We wanted to make sure both goaltenders got to play in the final game of the season because without both of them we wouldn’t have made it this far,” he said. “And they both played really well and made some big stops for us.”
Scheffler said he is pleased with how the season went and if a few bounces had gone the other way the Pirates could have been playing for the championship banner.
“In the playoffs we won three games, lost one and tied twice,” he said, adding when the team played in the semifinals against Camrose the team had a better than average chance of winning. “We tied the first game of the series and in the second game we were actually up 2 to 1, but then we took a bunch of bad penalties in the third period and we ended up losing the game 4 to 2. ”
Scheffler added one of the things the coaching staff is most pleased with is how hard the players worked and how much they improved over the season.
“We were in every game,” he said. “Basically we were a 500 hockey team, but almost every one of our losses were just by one goal. The referees near the end of the year were always telling us (coaches) how much our players improved over the start of the year. I know as coaches we couldn’t be more proud of the boys.” It was the perfect way to end the season.
On Saturday, March 19, at the Barrhead Agrena the Pirates defeated their Thorsby Thunder opponents in the second game of a two-game total point series to win the 1660 League’s Bantam 3 Bronze Banner.
The first game of the series took place in Thorsby on Friday, March 18.
Greg Scheffler, Pirates’ head coach, said the two games couldn’t have been closer. In Friday’s game, Barrhead and Thorsby played to a two all tie.
“We were actually trailing 2 to 0 for the majority of the game. We did everything we could, but we couldn’t find a way to score on them, but finally with about seven or eight minutes left we were able to score,” he said. “There we were thinking we weren’t going to score a goal the whole game and then to have them score and then score another one in such a short period of time. It was just amazing.”
Scheffler said if the Pirates hadn’t tied that game it is doubtful they would have been able to take the Bronze banner.
Especially considering the fact in all the two teams previous meetings the Pirates had yet to record a win.
“They’re a tough team and in all our other games with them they have either just managed to beat us by a goal, or we tied them,” he said. “The boys really stepped up and under pressure Friday night they we’re able to score two goals in the third period.”
In Saturday’s game, Barrhead got off to a strong start with Colton Bondarchuck scoring just a little after the three-minute mark in the period. Brendan Bujold was credited with the assist.
Thorsby responded with a goal by Patrick Diehl at just over the halfway point of the period.
Barrhead responded a few minutes later with a goal by Sheldon Dewsnap assisted by Bujold.
In the second period, Thorsby struck first tying the game with a goal by Brody Martin at the five-and-a-half minute mark. At the halfway mark of the period, Luke Szybunka restored the Pirates’ lead with Bujold’s third assist of the game.
Once again Thorsby tied the game about four minutes later with a goal by Konrad Kohl.
However, the Pirates restored their lead less than a minute later thanks to a goal by Brayden Bain, assisted by Dylan Scheffler.
Starting the third period Thorsby proved their resilience tying it up for the fourth time in the game with a goal by Dustin Garrett less than three minutes into the final frame.
“It really was a back and forth game,” Scheffler said. “We would score one and then they would score one. I remember thinking whoever scores the last goal of the game would end up winning.”
Which is exactly what ended up happening. With a little less than five minutes left in the game, Pirates’ Ashton Gache scored the game-winning goal, with an assist by Jordan Kleinfeldt.
Hunter Ricci (who started) and Mathew Carstairs teamed up in goal to help the Pirates earn the win.
“We wanted to make sure both goaltenders got to play in the final game of the season because without both of them we wouldn’t have made it this far,” he said. “And they both played really well and made some big stops for us.”
Scheffler said he is pleased with how the season went and if a few bounces had gone the other way the Pirates could have been playing for the championship banner.
“In the playoffs we won three games, lost one and tied twice,” he said, adding when the team played in the semifinals against Camrose the team had a better than average chance of winning. “We tied the first game of the series and in the second game we were actually up 2 to 1, but then we took a bunch of bad penalties in the third period and we ended up losing the game 4 to 2. ”
Scheffler added one of the things the coaching staff is most pleased with is how hard the players worked and how much they improved over the season.
“We were in every game,” he said. “Basically we were a 500 hockey team, but almost every one of our losses were just by one goal. The referees near the end of the year were always telling us (coaches) how much our players improved over the start of the year. I know as coaches we couldn’t be more proud of the boys.”
