The 100 Mile House Wranglers beat the Williams Lake Mustangs twice last weekend in back-to-back games.
The Wranglers dominated the Mustangs at the South Cariboo Rec Centre on Friday, Oct. 18 taking home a comfortable 6-1 victory. The next night in Williams Lake, however, the Mustangs rallied and made the Wranglers fight to claim a 5-4 victory in an overtime shootout. It's a result that Wranglers head coach Levi Stuart is proud of, but one he feels his team can still grow from.
"It was a good weekend for the boys, a couple of character wins. The second one in Williams Lake was a good comeback victory where we fought off some adversity with penalties and going down early four to two," Stuart remarked. "The boys had no give-up and trusted the process and kept grinding away."
On Friday night the Wranglers took an early lead with a goal scored by Ethan Davey, with assists from Ty Smoluk and Nelson Webster. It wasn't long after, however, that the Mustangs scored on a powerplay with Noah Pears tying the game with the help of Kaden Ernst and Dawson Ernst. However, the Wrangler defence was strong with the hometown team outshooting the Mustangs by a factor of two, with Everett Boutcher putting the Wranglers back in the lead just before the end of the first period.
Throughout the second period, the Wranglers went on a scoring spree as Webster and Matthew Balderston both widened the lead, followed by Ethan Davey capping off the period with another last-minute goal. In the third period, Luke McFarlane scored the Wranglers' sixth and final game of the night as the game heated up with several big hits, near fights and penalties for both teams.
"Friday night was a good game. Lots of energy, lots of speed, heavy on the forecheck. Our powerplay was getting better and our penalties are getting to the point where we still have some work to do but we're at least able to close out games," Stuart remarked. "Friday was a good overall team game where everybody played their role and did a job that ended up getting us the 6-1 win."
Stuart noted before Friday night's game he set a goal for his team to make 50 shots on net by the end. While they didn't quite achieve that, with the team making 44 shots on the Mustangs' net, Stuart said he was happy their shots weren't just shots of quantity but also quality.
Saturday night's game, however, was different with the Wranglers put on the back foot initially thanks to a series of penalties. During the first period, the Mustangs scored first blood with the Wranglers' Jaden Rusnack answering before the Mustangs scored a second goal on a powerplay.
In the second period, the Mustangs expanded their scoring lead with an additional two goals, one of them on a powerplay, after the Wranglers' Nash Hilworth opened the period with a goal. Stuart said his team hung in, however, with Alberto Kellgren bringing the Wranglers within a point before the period's end.
"It was a tough start. We ended up going down 4-2 and they scored three powerplay goals on us, which is always tough," Stuart said. "I talk about penalty killing all the time and it's something we need to continue to work on."
Just before the game ended in a Mustang victory the team's work ethic paid off with McFarlane tying the game and forcing it into overtime. In the overtime period, neither team gained an advantage leading to a shootout. Wrangler goalie Jaidyn Shaw, who subbed in for Ivan Tolsma in the second period, shut the Mustangs out securing the victory for 100 Mile House.
"We are happy with that weekend but never content. We're still looking to improve especially on the penalty kill and overall consistency and being able to string a few games here together," Stuart remarked, noting this coming weekend when they travel to face the Sicamous Eagles and Revelstoke Grizzlies will be good tests for the team.
These games have placed the Wranglers in the lead for the competition for the Cariboo Cup by four points. Throughout the regular season, each goal scored by a Cariboo team against another Cariboo team will be recorded, with the winner being awarded the cup at the end of the season. Stuart said this lead just fuels his team's fire to get better.
"We want to be a team that continues to take steps forward every week and continue to work towards the goal of winning a championship."
