Wayway tops Neepawa in exhibition opener

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Published on Thursday, September 10, 2015

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner

The exhibition schedule has begun for the Neepawa Natives. The Manitoba Junior Hockey League club hit the ice on Tuesday, Sept 9, at the Yellowhead Centre, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

The matchup featured just the rookies and young prospects for the Natives in the lineup. Coach Jim Fuyarchuk said that the veteran players will begin being cycled into the lineup for the next game on Friday, Sept 11, in Dauphin.

In the early portion of the game, Wayway was able to control the tempo, as the rookies for the Natives appeared a bit apprehensive in the opening frame. That potential opening night nervousness translated to the Natives being outshot 20-8 in the first 20 minutes. 

Despite spending most of the first period on their heels, Neepawa went into the first intermission tied with the Wolverines 1-1. With just under seven minutes remaining in the first, the Wolverines opened up the scoring with a Brett Opperman goal. Wade Johannesson and Chad Kilmnik assisted on the play. Three minutes later, the Neepawa Natives would counter with a power-play goal to tie the game. Nathan Hillis scored with Matt Millan and Ryan Heino registering the assists.

Early in the second, the Natives young prospects found their confidence and began to get more aggressive, putting pressure on the Wolverines and challenging their goaltender. Unfortunately, it would be Waywayseecappo who would take advantage of their opportunities, scoring two goals within a minute of one another. Riley Chambray posted a goal 5:27 into the second, followed 56 seconds later by Wade Johannesson notching his second points of the evening, to make it 3-1. Neepawa would outshoot the Wolverines 13-10 in the second, but remained down by two goals after 40 minutes of play. 

In the third, both teams remained aggressive but could not find the back of the net. Neepawa outshot Wayway 12-11, but ended the evening out chanced by the Wolverines by a 41-33 shot margin.

The next exhibition game for Neepawa is set for Friday, Sept. 11, in Dauphin against the Kings. The Natives’ next home game will the following evening on the 12th against those same Kings.