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Sr. Yaks drop their home opener

The Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs didn’t have the start to their season they were hoping for. The Pontiacs dropped two games over the weekend; on the road against the Westlock Warriors and at home versus the Devon Barons.
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Pontiac Tanner Corbeil keeps the puck away from the Devon Barons during their home opener on Sunday, Oct. 6.

The Bonnyville Sr. Pontiacs didn’t have the start to their season they were hoping for.

The Pontiacs dropped two games over the weekend; on the road against the Westlock Warriors and at home versus the Devon Barons.

Pontiacs fall to the Warriors

The Sr. Pontiacs’ first time on the ice this season ended in a 10-3 loss to Westlock on Saturday, Oct. 5.

“We ran into a hot goalie,” noted head coach Corey Wandler. “We just couldn’t buy a goal, got behind, and we couldn’t dig out of it.”

The Warriors came out ahead in the first, getting the only two points of the period.

While the home team added another point to bring their lead to 3-0 in the second, Pontiac Tanner Corbeil managed to finally put Bonnyville on the scoreboard.

Westlock answered with another two goals of their own, before Pontiac Adam Knapp made it 5-2. But, it wasn’t enough to get ahead as the Warriors added another point before the buzzer.

Heading into the final frame with a score of 6-2, the Warriors sunk four goals before the time ran out.

The final goal of the evening went to the Pontiacs, with Coltan Buchta making it 10-3.

“It wasn’t bad for the first game of the year,” Wandler said.

Heartbreaking loss during home opener

The Sr. Pontiacs were hoping for a comeback when the Devon Barons came to town on Sunday, Oct. 6.

“From the first game in Westlock… we just had more chemistry. I thought our overall positioning defensively and our puck management was better,” Wandler expressed.

Although the teams were evenly matched for the majority of the game, the Barons ultimately took home a 9-4 victory.

It was Devon who started the scoring off in the first, but the Pontiacs weren’t going down without a fight. Ty Carey found the back of the net with less than three minutes left in the first frame to tie it up. The Barons snuck one by the Pontiacs goalie before the period was through to come ahead 2-1.

Pontiac Preston Anderson started the second frame off quickly, tying the score up at 2-2. Devon pulled ahead, but Carey found the back of the net for a second time to even up the score at three apiece.

Both teams would exchange goals again, before the Barons managed to pull ahead for good with less than 35 seconds left in second.

The Pontiacs were unable to keep the momentum going in the third period. Devon added four more points, bringing the final score to 9-4.

“We definitely did good in the first two periods,” recalled defenceman Troy Dumais. “But, the last period was definitely a let down. We didn’t have our feet moving in the third period. We let up some weak ones in our zone, and we couldn’t capitalize on that and we should have.”

Although it was a tough loss for the Pontiacs, Wandler saw improvements after their game against Westlock.

“Everybody wanted to be better, that’s just the way our group is. I think they all knew we had better to bring out, and they definitely did that. Obviously, Devon is a well-skating team and they’ve got a lot of skill… I think our guys wanted to rebound today, and have a good showing for the home opener. We were able to do that in the first 40-minutes, but just not enough.”

The Sr. Pontiacs next home game is against the Morinville Kings on Saturday, Oct. 12. Puck drop at the R.J. Lalonde arena is 7:30 p.m.

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