Neepawa Natives continue their streak

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Published on Thursday, November 19, 2015

Photo by Kira Paterson. Nolan Richards (7) attempts to keep the action away from Neepawa's end at the game against Swan Valley on Wednesday, Nov. 18. 

By Kira Paterson

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

On Saturday, Nov. 14 the Neepawa Natives faced the Portage Terriers at the Portage Credit Union Centre. The crowd had something to cheer about, with the home team defeating Neepawa with a final score of 5-1. 

Neepawa was first on the scoreboard, with a goal by Brayden Atkinson at 14:01 in the first period. They couldn’t hold the lead for long, though, as the Terriers’ Nick Henry replied at 14:33 to tie it up. Before the period was over, Henry found the net a second time, putting Portage up by a point at 16:48. 

The second period saw some heat from the players, with both teams being penalized for fighting, game misconduct and roughing after the whistle. Portage had no trouble recovering from their penalties, with a point from Chase Brakel on a power-play putting the Terriers ahead by two at 15:18. With two minutes left in the period, Turner Santin extended the home team’s lead. Neepawa was unable to keep up, putting only two shots on goal during the period against 13 shots from the Terriers.

There was not much action in the third until the final two minutes. At 18:07, Brett Orr put the puck in Neepawa’s net, securing a 5-1 win for the Terriers. 

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the Swan Valley Stampeders came to the Yellowhead Centre to play Neepawa. There was no home field advantage in this game, as Neepawa was shut out by the Stampeders with a final score of 5-0. 

In the first period, the Natives worked hard to keep the puck out of their own end, having only one less shot on goal than the Stampeders. The effort was not enough, however, as they allowed two goals by the Stampeders' Josh Martin at 4:01 and Tristan Langan at 11:00. 

The second period was rather uneventful. No goals were recorded; both teams found the net but the goals were waved off for different reasons. Neepawa would have prevented the shutout, but the only puck they got past the goal line went in on a high stick, so it didn't count. 

In the third, tensions rose. There were quite a number of game misconduct, fighting and roughing penalties called on both teams after Swan Valley's Josh Tripp put in their third goal at the 7:06 mark. Cody Ellingson of the Stampeders was able to capitalize on one of their powerplays, bringing their lead up to 4-0 at 11:50. Gavin Froese put up the final point of the game at 13:28, with the Stampeders' fifth goal of the night. Neepawa was unable to catch up, despite having a man advantage several times during the period. 

The Neepawa Natives are now at their 11th loss in a row with a record of 5-17.