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 out-shot the Marauders 13-6 in the first period and were rewarded with a 1-0 lead on a goal by Conrad Hase.
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 out-shot 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, out-shooting 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 goalmouth with Cohen Pierce and Tyler Hale being credited with assists on the game- winning goal.
The series moved to Estevan Saturday, April 5 and there was no sign of bus legs for Martensville in earning a 4-1 win to claim the provincial U18AA title.
Martensville took the lead late in the first period with Deagon Reister netting his first of the playoffs.
Tyson Janzen added to the lead early in the second period. Estevan scored a power play goal mid-period. Wyatt LaRoche’s unassisted effort provided an insurance marker for the Marauders.
Tyson Janzen’s second goal of the game put an exclamation mark on the win.
Goaltender Austin Adamus was solid in net, making 24 saves.