Lakeland Junior B Heat off to Provincials after 13-9 overtime win

The Lakeland Junior B Heat went 2-0 in their best-of-three playoff series against the Sylvan Lake Yettis and are on their way to Provincials. 

After a challenging battle Sunday morning, the Lakeland Heat are heading to provincials after an overtime win of 13-9 against the Sylvan Lake Yettis. 

“It was a great game, everyone was in it and everyone was doing their job,” said Bret Macleod, Lakeland Heat. 

“We just played our game and got the outcome we wanted.” 

Saturday’s game for the Lakeland Heat was also a tough battle but they pushed and beat the Sylvan Lake Yettis 11-8.

The Lakeland Heat started off Saturday’s game with a three-goal lead in the first period and never looked back. 

Micheal Legge and Jack Nichol played a big part in keeping that lead. Both scored a hat trick in the Heats’ first game of the series.  

Headed into game two on Sunday, they knew if they lost they would have to play a tiebreaker game later that day. If they won either of them, they would move on to provincials. 

The Lakeland Heat started the second period off slow but made their way back up to finish the period off one point behind the Sylvan Lake Yettis, 7-6. 

“We were down 7-4 and came back to be within one after the second period,” said Daryl Hodinsky, head coach of the Lakeland Heat. 

The team pushed through and worked their way back up in the third period tying the Yettis 8-8 and heading into overtime. 

Lakeland Heat ended the 10-minute overtime with five goals against one Yetti goal. 

Bret Macleod number 55 and Ava Pinch number 1 on Lakeland Heat, both had a big part in keeping a four goal lead, and holding back the Yettis throughout the 10-minute overtime. 

Macleod scored four overtime goals all in the span of 8 minutes and Ava Pinch scored a goalie goal on an open net with 49 seconds remaining in overtime, giving them the lead of 13-9. 

Hodinsky said the 10-minute overtime play was wicked. 

“The guys were making the right passes, the right moves and it was a total team game. If the boys don’t play like that, they won’t get this far,” said Hodinsky.  

“It’s just amazing to be a part of this team.”

Provincials are being held in Innisfail this weekend from Friday to Sunday. They will compete against the Lloydminster Xtreme, Cranbrook Blackwolves, and Calgary Wranglers in a round-robin format. 

The top two teams from the round-robin will meet for Provincial gold.

For more information on game times and dates for your Lakeland Junior B Heat click the link below. 

https://rockymountainlax.com/junior-b-tier-ii-ala-provincials/