Natives win S.O. thriller against Wayway

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Published on Thursday, October 15, 2015

By Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

The Neepawa Natives improved their MJHL record to 4-6 on the season and did so in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, Oct. 14, by defeating the Waywayseecappo Wolverines 4-3 in a shootout. 

A power-play goal with less than a minute remaining in the third period by Austin Ramirez sent the game into overtime. It was the third power-play goal of the night for Neepawa. Coach Jim Fuyarchuk said they’ve paid special attention to the man advantage in practice and that effort really paid off against Wayway.

“We’ve been refining it in practice. It was something we’ve needed some improvement on,” noted Fuyarchuk. “To see that effort they’ve been putting in at practice work like it did in game situations is good to see. The players are starting to settle in and we’re seeing them execute.”

Fuyarchuk added that the team started the game well in the opening period, but that the second period turned into a bit of wild shootout. He noted that the players settled down in the final frame and started to take control of the tempo of play, which they need to do more often to ensure long term success.

Goal scorers for Neepawa included Jared Pelechaty, Kyle McDonald and Austin Ramirez. After a scoreless overtime, Aiken Chop of the Natives was the lone scorer for either club during the shootout. Troy Pierce picked up the win for the Natives in goal, stopping 47 shots. 

Neepawa now travels north to face the OCN Blizzard for a pair of games this weekend.