The Midget AAA Generals started fast and finished strong, but a rough second period almost sunk them on Sunday afternoon at Mosaic Place. The Generals won their home opener, 4-3, over the Notre Dame Argos with a pair of third period goals.
Stephen Wilson scored the game winner with blast from the face off dot with 7:43 to go in the game. That came just two minutes after Moose Jaw Warriors prospect Ben Duperreault tied the game with a power play goal.
"It's not the way we want to do it, but two games in a row where I thought our guys showed a lot of character in the third period," said head coach Ray Wareham after the win. "For being a young team, we found out a lot about them in the first two games. Second periods are something that we need to work on, but other than that, it's been pretty good."
The game started great for the Generals with Regan Nagy opening the scoring just 7:49 into the game. Nagy would get his second point of the period when he set up Rhett Gardner for a one timer goal on the rush with 1:59 to go in the frame.
The second period was all Notre Dame as they scored three goals to go ahead 3-2. Sven Jung got the Argos on the board just 2:12 into the frame on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Rylee Zimmer scored just under two minutes later when they powerplay expired to tie the game. Brett Radford finished off the stellar middle frame by Notre Dame just before the break.
Moose Jaw came out strong in the third period and got the two goals from Duperreault and Wilson to come from behind for the win. Wilson says he got the puck and just ripped it, hoping it would find the net, "I didn't even look, I just shot it and it went in. That doesn't happen very often."
Wareham says they allowed the Argos to gain some momentum in the second period after a very strong start for the second straight game, "You take two penalties that are 200-feet from your net and it's tough to kill them off. They got some momentum and we got back on our heels a little bit, but we responded in the third."
Wilson finishes the weekend with two goals and three points to lead the team in scoring. Forward Trey Tendler had two points in Saturday's game and added an assist on Sunday to also pick up three points in the opening weekend.
Wilson says he has some good chemistry with Tendler on a line as they play similar styles and roles on the team, "We're suppose to get the team going (with physical play) and we're not goal scores, but me and Trey are pretty big bodies, so we like to set the tone like that."
Grant Naherniak made 23 saves to come away with with as the Generals improved to 2-0-0 on the year, they had knocked off the Notre Dame Hounds, 4-2 on Saturday night. Warriors 2012 2nd round pick Zach Sawchenko faced 27 shots in the loss.
The Generals will practice this week at Mosaic Place before heading up to Saskatoon to take on the Blazers on Friday. They’re back at Mosaic Place on Sunday to face the Prince Albert Mintos.
Fri, Apr 19, 8:00 AM
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