BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Steelers will move on to the next round of the North Eastern Alberta Hockey League (NEAHL) U18 Tier 1 playoffs after defeating Wainwright in a home-and-home total goal series.
In the first game, on Feb. 20, Barrhead defeated Wainwright 6 - 5 on the road, while in front of their home fans on Feb. 23, the Steelers won 4-3
Head coach Chris Gibert said that going into the series, everyone knew it would be close, adding the Steelers edged out the Wainwright by one point in the final game, defeating them in the last game of the regular season to take fourth place and home game advantage with 7 wins, 10 losses and one tie, selecting to play their second game at home.
"We got off to a good start," he said, adding Barrhead outscored Wainwright 5-3 in the first period.
Scoring for the Steelers were Ashton Luciuk, assisted by Tanner Harrison and Kade McLean; Brock Beauliua, assisted by Conner Kalmbach and Kruze Hiemstra; Cash Gibert; Levi DeVrises assisted by Hiemstra and Gibert and Cohen Fisher.
In the second period, coach Gibert said Barrhead lost focus and let the home team tie the game with two unanswered goals. The home team outshot the Steelers 20 to eight in the second frame.
In the third period, Barrhead got its equilibrium back, with Fisher scoring his second goal about three minutes in, putting the Steelers ahead for the last time in an equally played period.
Starting netminder, Dallyn Petiot stopped 41 out of 46 shots for the win.
In the second game at home, Barrhead and Wainwright scored three goals each in the first and second periods, two in the first and one in the second. Scoring for Barrhead was Tanner Harrison, assisted by Devries and Gilbert; Gibert, assisted by Devries and Hiemstra; and Connor Kalmbach, assisted by Gibert.
Gibert scored the game's final goal in the third period with about 13 minutes left.
With two minutes to go, with a face-off deep in Barrhead's zone, Wainwright pulled its goaltender as they needed two goals to win the series. With just over a minute left in the game, Barrhead took a penalty in a somewhat controversial call, but thanks to strong defence and clutch goaltending by Willaim Bain, who stopped 40 out of 43 shots, the Steelers weathered the storm.
"The boys played hard and battled. They deserved the win," coach Gibert said.
He added that in the next round, which will start on the Friday, Feb. 28 weekend, the Steelers will face the Edson Octane Controls, who finished the regular season in first place with 18 wins, 2 losses, and a tie.
However, he noted one of those losses was to Barrhead late in the season, 4-3 at the Arena. Edson won 4-1 in late December and 5-4 in early January in their other head-to-head matchups.
If Barrhead wins the series against Edson, they will compete for the NEAHL Tier 1 Championship. They will also qualify for the provincial championships in late March.
The first game of the two game home-and-home total goal series will be in Edson on March 1 with the second at the Barrhead Agrena on March 2 at 3:30 p.m.
In other Barrhead Minor Hockey Association playoff weekend action, the 15U-1 lost its two-game series against Edson, 12 - 4, with the majority scored against them on Feb. 21, a 10-2 road loss and a 2-2 tie on Feb. 23 at the Agrena.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
