Camrose, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (3-1-1) picked up their third straight win on Saturday night in Camrose with a 4-3 win over the Kodiaks (2-1-1).
After four straight starts in the Wolverine’s crease for Xavier Potvin, the team turned to rookie goaltender Tye Morin for his first career AJHL start in Camrose. Less than a minute in, Morin was forced to make his first save on a breakaway as he shut the door on a streaking Tyler Schendel. All in all, Morin stopped all 11 shots he faced in the opening frame as the teams headed to the intermission scoreless.
The Wolverines came out like gangbusters to start the second period scoring a pair of goals in the opening 1:14. First, Liam Motley danced a would-be defender at centre ice to send himself and Noah Tooke in on a two-on-one rush and Motley floated a pass right onto the tape of Tooke who made no mistake for his team-leading third goal of the season. 41 seconds later, Phil Erickson extended the lead as he ripped a shot five-hole on Kodiak netminder Landon Pavlisin from the left-wing circle. Erickson wasn’t done there, with under five minutes to play in the period he buried his second of the night after having a puck pinball to him in the right-wing circle. The Kodiaks responded just over three minutes later with a goal from Jacob Kendall to send them to the second intermission down 3-1.
A defensive struggle dominated the first half of the third period, but coming out of the media timeout the goals came quickly. The Kodiaks scored two goals 1:24 apart to get the game even with under nine minutes to play but just 14 seconds after the game-tying goal by Kendall, his second of the night, Marc-Antoine Benoit put the Wolverines back in front as he fired a shot five-hole on Pavilsin. In the final minute of the game, the Kodiaks had a glorious chance to tie the game after a Wolverine turnover left two Kodiaks alone in front of the net, but Morin came up with his biggest save of the night to preserve the win for his team.
The Wolverines return to action Sunday afternoon in Sherwood Park at 2:15 p.m. against the Crusaders (2-1-0).
Notes: The Wolverines finished tonight’s game down two skaters as both F Stevie Bryant and D Spencer Augot left the game with injuries, they will be re-evaluated prior to tomorrow’s game…Prior to tonight’s game the team acquired ’99 D Jesse Pomeroy from the Sherwood Park Crusaders for future considerations, he will join the team on Sunday…Tonight’s game featured two sets of twin brothers, Easton and Chase Haygarth for the Wolverines and Carson and McKenzie Welke for the Kodiaks…The Wolverines have now won four straight games as the Kodiaks
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
No Scoring
2nd Period:
WCT Goal – 0:33 – Noah Tooke(3) from Liam Motley and Tyr Thompson (EV)
WCT Goal – 1:14 – Phil Erickson(2) from Brayden Labant and Cody Laskosky (EV)
WCT Goal – 15:11 – Phil Erickson(3) from Cody Laskosky and Chase Haygarth (EV)
CAM Goal – 18:34 – Jacob Kendall(2) from Cale Chalifoux (EV)
3rd Period:
CAM Goal – 11:17 – McKenzie Welke(1) from Matt Dykstra and Daine Milgate (EV)
CAM Goal – 12:41 – Jacob Kendall(3) from Tyler Schendel and Nick Mantai (EV)
WCT Goal – 12:56 – Marc-Antoine Benoit(1) from Easton Haygarth and Chase Haygarth (EV)
Shots – WCT 29 (8-10-11) CAM 32 (11-10-11)
Power plays – WCT 0/4 CAM 0/3
Goalies:
WCT – Tye Morin 29sv/32sh (1-0-0)
CAM – Landon Pavlisin 25sv/29sh (1-1-1)
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Phil Erickson (2g)
2. WCT-Marc-Antoine Benoit (GWG)
3. CAM-Jacob Kendall (2g)
Hardest Working Wolverines: Tye Morin (29sv, W)
Recap presented by:
