Neepawa Natives lose close one to Portage Terriers
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- Published on Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Photo by Eoin Devereux. Griffin Chwaliboga (5) winds up for a shot on goal during the Dec. 19 game against Portage.
By Eoin Devereux
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The final game before the Christmas break ended in bitter disappointment for the Neepawa Natives, as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Portage Terriers on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Neepawa was able to keep pace with the top team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) throughout regulation and it appeared that the game would head into overtime. But with 3:20 remaining in the final period, Terriers’ forward Brad Bowles scored a tremendous short-handed goal to give the visitors a late 2-1 lead. Chase Brakel also scored for Portage, tying the game 1-1 at the midway mark of the second with a power play goal. Matthew Millan scored the lone goal for Neepawa, giving the home side a 1-0 lead 6:40 into the second period. That was Millan’s first goal of the season.
Jeremy Link was solid in net for the Natives, stopping 42 shots between the pipes. Nathan Park was steady as well in net for the opposing side, picking up his 24th win of the season. Neepawa finished the evening 0-for-4 on the power-play, while Portage went 1-for-5.
This defeat capped off a difficult week for the Natives, as they dropped a pair of games against the team they’re chasing for the final playoff spot. 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. The victory strengthened the Wolverines’ hold on the final survivor series spot, giving them a six point cushion over Neepawa.
As for the game itself, the first period started off very even with 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 open 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.
These two teams would face-off once again just a few days later, this time in Waywayseecappo. Though the score was slightly different, the result was exactly the same, another Neepawa Natives loss. John Swedlo scored a pair of goals to aid Wayway on its way to the 6-2 decision. Kyle McDonald and Nolan Martens scored for Neepawa.
After these most recent results, Neepawa finds itself 10 points back of the final playoff spot. The Natives have an opportunity to climb back into playoff contention on Wednesday, Dec. 30, when they once again face-off against the Waywayseecappo Wolverines.
