Mid-season struggles continue for the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs.
The Pontiacs began the week on Wednesday, Dec. 6, on the road against the Spruce Grove Saints. Their losing streak extended to eight games, after a 7-1 loss.
They would get back into the winner's column at home on Saturday, Dec. 9, with a 6-2 victory over the Drumheller Dragons.
The bounce back was short lived. The team suffered a 5-4 overtime loss the following night at the hands of the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
For the second time this season the Pontiacs have been blown out in Spruce Grove.
Chris Van Os-Shaw opened the scoring for the Saints 26 seconds into the game, and his team didn't look back. Pontiacs forward Brayden Goulet would add the team's only goal late in the first, with assists going to Adam Sandstrom and Olson Werenka.
In the second, the Saints put the game out of reach with four unanswered goals. Neither team scored in the third and the Saints earned the 7-1 victory.
The Pontiacs found a way to stop the bleeding at home against the Drumheller Dragons.
With their last win on Nov. 17, the Pontiacs were hungry for a victory against the Dragons.
Isaac Saniga got his team off to a quick start, making it 1-0 just under four minutes into the game. Bobby Young and Sandro Silvestre earned assists on the play.
Three minutes later, Saniga returned the favour, finding Young out front for the 2-0 goal. Drumheller pulled within one before the end of the first period, bringing the score to 2-1 at intermission.
The Dragons managed to nearly equal the Pontiacs in zone time and shots on goal, but were unable to solve Silvestre. Meanwhile, the Pontiacs offence came alive with three in the third period, giving the team its first win in eight games.
“Everybody knew there was the elephant in the room of an eight game losing streak. We worked very hard this week to make sure our mentality was where it needed to be, and tonight was a hard-fought team victory. The boys earned this one,” said assistant coach Neil Langridge.
Pontiac rookie Luke Albert contributed to that workhorse mentality with an assist and a fight in his home-game debut.
Carson Erherdt, Derek Brown, Lucas Thorne, and Brayden Goulet, all found the back of the net for a final 6-2 win.
“This was honestly a really good experience. The fans were great, the atmosphere was great, and the boys came out with a big win,” said Albert.
The Pontiacs earned a point in a back-and-forth matchup against the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
Despite being held scoreless for the duration of the first period, the Pontiacs came with the same mentality that earned them six goals the night before. They fired everything on net, collecting 24 shots in the first two periods.
“We were focussing on putting pucks on the net, and we were able to chase one of their goalies out of the net last night (Dec. 10). That's something we have to focus on,” said Langdridge.
Early in the second period, Riley Smith finished off a pass from Joel Ray tying the game at 1-1. Shortly after, Kirby Proctor extended the team's lead to 2-1, but it was short-lived as the Crusaders tied the score heading into the third.
Erhardt put it between the posts in the final frame with an unassisted effort for the Pontiacs.
Albert added to the lead with his first goal as a Pontiac.
The Crusaders quickly fought back and erased the two goal deficit, with goals four minutes apart, sending the game into overtime.
Then, with less than one minute to go in the overtime frame, Sherwood Park forward Dylan Stewart sent the Pontiacs home on a sour note.
While they didn't get the result they were looking for, the team can be satisfied with their offensive production over the weekend. They'll look to build on it when they head on the road Friday, Dec. 15 against the Brooks Bandits.
“If we play the right way, play as a team and everybody is playing as a unit and not as individuals, we'll get that offence every night. That's going to be our focus going forward,” said Langridge.
