Road woes for Neepawa Natives

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Published on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

By Eoin Devereux

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

To say that life away from the Yellowhead Centre recently has not been ideal for the Neepawa Natives, would be a severe understatement.

This past week, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) club travelled to Swan River and Winkler for a pair of games and would find itself returning home with a pair of potentially demoralizing losses.

The first game for the Natives was on Wednesday, Oct. 28, against the Swan Valley Stampeders. Neepawa found itself outshot, outscored and generally outplayed by the home town Stamps, as they ended the night on a wrong end of a 5-2 decision.

Swan Valley jumped out to an early advantage, scoring on a power-play opportunity just 5:32 into the game, as Colton Brausen scored his third goal of the season. A little over two minutes later, Tanner Koroscil added to the scoresheet, to double up Swan Valley’s advantage. Neepawa would reply before the end of the first however, as Brayden Atkinson notched his third goal and ninth point of the regular season, to make it 2-1 Stampeders. 

Neepawa was able to even things up near the mid-way point of the second, as Nolan Martens slipped one past goaltender Zach De Graves. That tie would not last long however, as Evan Last scored a little under four minutes later, to make the score 3-2.

In the third period, it was Swan Valley that controlled the tempo and forced the majority of play to be in the Neepawa defensive zone. The Stamps outshot the Natives 25-7 in the final frame and were able to add two more goals before the end of the game. Josh Martin scored at the 9:46 mark, while Tristan Langan ended the evening with a power-play goal to make the final score 5-2. The final numbers for the night saw Swan Valley take 61 shots on goal, while Neepawa countered with 24 shots. The Stampeders would also take advantage of their power-play opportunities, scoring twice on seven opportunities. The Natives went 0-for-4 on the game.

Neepawa would next travel to Winkler to face the Flyers. The challenge of the second best club in the MJHL proved to be way too much for the Natives, as they were decimated 14-0. Neepawa tried its best to compete, but found itself outgunned by the potent offence of the Flyers, who put up six goals in the first period, five in the second and three more in the final period.

Despite these recent defeats, Neepawa remains tied for ninth place in the MJHL standing with Swan Valley, with 10 points. The Natives, however, have played one less game than the Stampeders this season. Neepawa will attempt to reset itself on Wednesday, Nov. 4, with a home game against the Winnipeg Blues.