BY Jonathan Huntington
MOOSE JAW – The Moose Jaw Winmar Warriors are one win away from their first-ever U18AAA provincial championship.
On home ice in front of more than 2,400 fans Friday night, the Warriors beat the Regina Pat Canadians 5-1 to force a one-game showdown Saturday afternoon in the Queen City.
After trailing the best-of-five series 2-0, the Warriors have figuratively climbed out of that hole with tenacious team defence and balanced scoring. In fact, seven different Warriors have scored in the last two contests.
“With the crowd and energy tonight, they played a heck of a game,” said Warriors’ head coach Trevor Weisgerber. “We had a real good forecheck early and scored some goals.”
The Warriors actually controlled the game from start-to-finish – jumping to a 2-0 lead (Tyler Hudec and Ryder Gilroy with the goals) in the first seven minutes. By the end of the second period, it was 5-1 thanks to tallies from Ryan Gibbs, Carson Deichert and Hudson Sayers.
“It’s electric in there,” said Gilroy, referring to the winning dressing room after the game. “We have all the confidence in the world right now.”
It marked the first game in the best-of-five league final series that didn’t go to overtime – and the first time this year (in eight head-to-head meetings) that the winning team had more than a one-goal spread.
Game 5 is 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Co-operators Arena in Regina with the Pat Cs trying to win their second straight SMAAAHL title and 12th in franchise history.
After a very physical tilt in Game 4 – with both teams delivering crushing hits, it’s a short turnaround with the Warriors carrying the momentum but Regina having home-ice advantage and last-change privileges.
“They were the better team tonight,” said Regina head coach Ryan Hodgins. “It’s not about winning three games in a row, you just got to win three games (to win the series).”
FINISH LINES: Moose Jaw has now won three straight elimination contests in the post-season: Game 5 against Saskatoon in the semi-final round and now back-to-back games in the league final… After starting the post-season 8-0, Regina has lost consecutive games for only the second time this year.
(Photo credit: Midnight Sun Notary and Photographics)
