By WAYNE SHIELS
The Estevan Bruins and Martensville Marauders opened the U18AA provincial final with an intense overtime matinee thriller at the Martensville Recreation Centre on Sunday, March 30. The home team came away with a hard earned 2-1 win.
The Bruins outshot the Marauders 13-6 in the first period and were rewarded with a 1-0 lead on a goal by Conrad Hase.
But, the Marauders responded with a goal of their own in the second period by Cohen Pierce, with assists from Clark Goebel and Tyler Hale. More from those three later.
Nothing was solved as the action went back and forth until the end of regulation. Estevan outshot Martensville 41-22 but couldn’t solve the wall that was Marauders goaltender Josh Olson.
The overtime is where the Marauders went to work. It was wave after wave into the Bruins’ end, outshooting the visitors 17-3, keeping the crowd on edge with a slough of great scoring chances. Finally Clark Goebel buried a loose puck in the goal mouth with Cohen Pierce and Tyler Hale being credited with assists on the game winning goal.
The series now moves to Estevan, with game two on Saturday, April 5 and game three, if needed on Sunday, April 6.