Yaks split weekend at home

The Bonnyville Jr A Pontiacs secured four of a possible six points this week with a win on the road against Camrose, followed by splitting the weekend with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Calgary Mustangs and a 5-1 win against the Sherwood Park Crusaders. Assistant Coach, of the Pontiacs, Neil Langridge says the boys responded well on Sunday, after a tough loss on Saturday.

“We came in Sunday and put in a better effort. That was the challenge after the game on Saturday. We should’ve won the game on Saturday; but we kinda gave it away with a slow start in the third period,” the slow start in the third ended up costing the club, explains Langridge, “we ended up losing it in a shoot out.”

Versus Calgary

The Pontiacs opened scoring late in the first thanks to PJ Marrocco , who was fed at 15:15 from Isaac Saniga and Carson Erhardt. Marrocco and Erhardt proved to be a handsome duo in the second when the pair popped in the second goal at 12:41.

The slow start Langridge referred to was noticed seven seconds into the third when Calgary’s Joseph Karpyshyn  put in a goal from Chase Miller and Salvatore Scalise. That was quickly followed up with the tier from Jordan Marks at 2:49, from Ryan Stoynich. The Mustangs held off 10 attempts from the Pontiacs and pushed the game into extra time. Eventually, the time ran out and the game was decided by a shootout, with the Mustangs taking the win.

Versus Sherwood Park

“The challenge was to play a full 60 minutes, with a 5-1 victory, we were very happy with the victory,” Lanridge says it was a well-rounded effort by the team that brought home the win.

The Pontiacs woke up quick with a goal from Sherwood Park’s Kole Bryks from Ty Readman and Payton McIsaac 29 seconds into the game. Mason Fischer  responded for the Yaks at 3:58 with help from Captain, Charlie Gawlicki.

The second period saw a healthy Riley Smith  put in the go-ahead on the power play, from Lucas Thorne and Adam Sandstrom. Smith would score again in the third, with helpers going to Bobby Young and Olson Werenka. Gawlicki continued to feed his hungry team at 15:40 in the third, when Mason Fischer popped in a shorty. Adam Sandstrom from Riley Smith and Bobby Young would be the last to score, making it a three point night for Smith.

“Total effort from everyone,” Langridge was happy to see a full scoring line up with smart assists and great team work on the ice.

“Sandro Silvestre has been solid for us. We’ve won the last two out of three games and I would be giving him the MVP in both of the wins, for sure,” Silvestre took on 67 shots between the two games over the weekend. “He’s doing exactly what we were hoping he was going to do for us this year.”

The Pontiacs have the week off before heading to Grand Prairie for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. The club returns to the RJ Lalonde Arena on November 3rd, but you can catch the boys on Halloween. The Pontiacs will be out in full force helping the young trick or treaters cross the roads and stay safe.