The Moose Jaw Warriors were pushed to the limit by the Yorkton Terriers, but they were able to come through when needed to advance to the South East Minor Hockey League's Atom AA Division Final.
The Warriors knocked off the Terriers, 6-3, at the Bert Hunt Arena on Saturday afternoon in game three of the best-of-three semifinal series.
“It was a team win and a team effort,” said 10-year-old Kierin Osberg from the Warriors. “We just had to win the battles and play defensively.”
Gage Nagel had a pair of goals to lead the Warriors, while Ryland Molde, Kohen Millar, Kale Pratte and Jackson Folliot also scored in the win.
Yorkton had won the opening game of the series, coming into Moose Jaw and handing the Warriors a 7-6 double overtime loss last Saturday, but Moose Jaw went into Yorkton the next night and returned the favour with a 6-4 win in Game 2.
That set up the deciding game this weekend and Warriors coach Dave Beisal said they came ready to play.
“They came out flying in this game and they don't give up,” he said.
The Warriors were able to build up a 5-2 lead after two periods, but the Terriers cut the lead down to just one only 45 seconds into the third.
Folliot responded for Moose Jaw just 1:04 later to restore the two-goal lead and the Warriors locked down defensively after that to seal the win.
“We've been working on our defensive play, Yorkton play good systems so we had to mix it up a bit and we told the boys that they were going to have to play good defence to win,” said Beisal.
“Team effort (was the difference), everyone bought in, everyone was giving 100-percent, that's what won us this series.”
The Warriors will now face the Swift Current Broncos for the league title.
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The Moose Jaw Bantam A Mavericks are tied at one game a piece in their league championship series against the Parkland Crushers.
Moose Jaw took the opening game of the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League Final, beating Parkland 11-6 on Saturday at the Kinsmen Arena.
The Crushers struck back in Game 2 on their home ice on Sunday, winning 6-4 over the Mavericks to send the series to a deciding third game.
Game 3 will go on Tuesday night here in Moose Jaw. Puck drops at 8:15 p.m. at the Red Knight Arena.
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The Moose Jaw Peewee A Warriors are looking to close in on a league title in the Hockey Regina League and are also hoping to grab a provincial title after a busy two days to end last week.
The Warriors hit the ice on Thursday in the Queen City against the Regina Shamrocks to open their Peewee AA Tier 2 provincial semifinal series. Regina skated to a 4-2 win to open the two-game total point series.
Nolan Kearns and Jacob Michelson scored for Moose Jaw in the loss.
The Warriors will now need to win the second game of the series coming up on Thursday by at least three goals to advance to the provincial final. They host Regina at the Bert Hunt Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.
The Warriors were back in action on Friday for a league game as they approach the end of the Hockey Regina League's regular season.
Moose Jaw bounced back with a 5-1 win over the Prairie Storm Lightning, which improved their record to a league-best 18-3-4 on the year, which has them two points clear of the Regina Bisons.
The Warriors finish the regular season by facing the Regina Royals on Monday night at 8 p.m. in the Queen City.
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The Moose Jaw Midget A Warriors lost 4-1 to the Saskatoon Red Wing Ice on Saturday night in the first game of their two-game total point provincial semifinal series.
The loss for Moose Jaw came at the Bert Hunt Arena, meaning they will now have to head into the Bridge City and beat the Red Wing Ice by at least four goals on Saturday in the second game.
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The Moose Jaw Peewee B Sabres will head into the second game of the Peewee AA Tier 3 provincial semifinal series against the Regina Tigers tied at 1-1.
The two teams met at the Bert Hunt on Thursday night last week and both sides scored in the first period of the low scoring series opener.
Jesse Heinbigner opened the scoring for Moose Jaw with 3:20 left in the opening frame and Regina answered with 24 seconds to go, but that was all the scoring on the night.
The two sides will now meet for the second game on Thursday in Regina.
Thu, May 2, 7:00 PM
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