Whitecourt, AB – The Whitecourt Wolverines (17-4-3) continued their winning ways on Tuesday night with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders (9-13-1).
Estian Coetzee wasted no time reacquainting himself to the Scott Safety Centre faithful as less than four minutes into the opening period he stole a puck in the neutral zone and busted in on a two-on-one rush in which he elected to shoot from the left-wing circle, beating Crusader’s goalie Brandon Vogel to the far side. The Wolverines held their 1-0 advantage through the opening frame, though it could’ve been larger if not for the solid goaltending of Vogel.
The second period featured a carbon-copy start as the first as just four minutes into the middle stanza, Coetzee found himself on another two-on-one rush in which he would again pick the far corner on Vogel. Just seven seconds later the Wolverines stretched their lead to 3-0 as Matt Monk wired home a one-timer on a drop pass from Coetzee just inside the Crusaders blue-line. The two goals seven seconds apart set a franchise record for fastest two goals scored, the AJHL record is five seconds. Vogel would lock things down after that in the Crusaders net and his team would trim the deficit to 3-1 at the 13:01 mark of the period as Ben McLeod made a perfect pass to a wide-open Brandon Wallis on the backdoor.
The Wolverines shut things down in the third period and skated away with their 11th consecutive win.
The Wolverines are back in action Friday night when they welcome the Spruce Grove Saints (16-5-1) to the Scott Safety Centre at 7:30 p.m.
Whitecourt Wolverines forward Estian Coetzee discusses his return to Whitecourt and the team’s current win streak:
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
WCT Goal – 3:34 – Estian Coetzee(13) unassisted (EV)
2nd Period:
WCT Goal – 4:12 – Estian Coetzee(14) unassisted (EV)
WCT Goal – 4:19 – Matthew Monk(2) from Estian Coetzee and Ryley Smith (EV)
SP Goal – 13:01 – Brandon Wallis(7) from Ben McLeod (EV)
3rd Period:
No Scoring
Shots – WCT 38 (14-10-14) SP 23 (7-7-9)
Power plays – WCT 0/1 SP 0/3
Goalies:
WCT – Xavier Potvin (13-3-3) 22sv/23sh
SP – Brandon Vogel (6-8-0) 35sv/38sh
Three Star Selection:
1. WCT-Estian Coetzee (2 goals, 1 assist, GWG)
2. WCT-Matt Monk (1 goal)
3. SP-Brandon Vogel (35 saves)
Hardest Working Wolverine: Tanner Foster
Recap presented by: