Wolverines topple Neepawa
- Details
- Published on Thursday, December 17, 2015
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Jeremy Link (1) faces down a Waywayseecappo Wolverines forward during the MJHL game on Wednesday, Dec.16.
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
In a battle for the basement, the Waywayseecappo Wolverines proved to be the best of the worst on Wednesday, Dec. 16, trouncing the Neepawa Natives 5-1 at the Yellowhead Centre.
This latest defeat secures Neepawa’s place at the bottom of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) standings at 7-26-0, for just 14 points and 11th place. Wayway meanwhile, improved its record to 8-20-4 on the year and 20 points. The victory also strengthened the Wolverines’ hold on the final survivor series spot, six points better than the Natives.
As for the game itself, the first period started off very even between the two sides trading several opportunities to open up the scoring, but neither were able to find the back of the net. After an extended back and forth, the first goal of the night was registered at the 16:37 mark, as Wolverines’ forward Quenton Cubbon opened up things up with his second goal of the season. Tyler Ham and Brayden Cullum assisted on the effort.
The Wolverines doubled their lead less than 90 seconds later, as Johl Swedlo notched his 10th goal of the year at 18:01. Neepawa responded just 23 seconds later however, with Reigan Buchanan scoring to make it 2-1. Jordan Martin and Kyle McDonald assisted on the Buchanan goal. For Martin, it’s his fourth consecutive game with at least one point.
In the second, both goaltenders faced a massive amount of shots. Neepawa’s Jeremy Link encountered 21 shots, while Troy Martyniuk stopped 13. The lone goal was registered by Wayway, with Landon Cochrane getting his very first of the year, to make it 3-1 for the Wolverines.
For the final 20 minutes of play, it was the Wolverines who were able to control the ebb and flow of the action. They added a pair of extra goals late, to make the final score 5-1. The final numbers for the night would see the Wolverines register 50 shots on goal, while Neepawa accumulated 29. Neither team was able to take advantage of their power-play opportunities, as the Natives went 0-for-4 and Waywayseecappo was 0-for-2.
The challenge does not get any easier for the Neepawa Natives, as the defending MJHL and RBC champions, the Portage Terriers travel to the Yellowhead Centre on Saturday, Dec. 19. Opening face-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
