The 100 Mile House Wranglers fought hard but were defeated 3-2 by the Williams Lake Mustangs on home ice on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
The game was an intense night with the Wranglers being outshot by the Mustangs 35-29 and followed on the heels of a 6-3 Wrangler victory over the Mustangs in Williams Lake on Friday, Sept. 13. Wranglers head coach Levi Stuart said the team was happy with the outcome, despite the loss.
"We got to see what we want to see, there were some guys that were fighting for spots, and I'd say about half the team was battling illness and the other half was banged up. So honestly, keeping it as close as we did, we're pretty happy with the outcome," said Stuart.
The game opened with a lot of chances with the Wranglers, with them initially outshooting the Mustangs - however, quite quickly the tables turned with the Mustangs imposing their physical will on the team. After a scuffle, Nelson Webster of the Wranglers served a two-minute penalty, with Brodie Gohmann joining him for a brief bit thanks to a delay of game penalty.
Williams Lake capitalized on these penalties - with Dawson Ernst scoring past Wranglers goaltender Michael Malinowski, assisted by Jacob Shtaif and former Wrangler Kaden Ernst. During another penalty served by Tyler Smoluk, the Wranglers went on a breakaway, scoring on Mustangs goaltender Zack Garnett to tie the game, with Nash Hilworth scoring the goal, assisted by Grayden Ewing.
The second period saw more penalties taken by the Wranglers, with Dawson Harden serving a penalty for roughing. This led to another powerplay goal by the Mustangs - this time by Noah Pears, assisted by Dawson Ernst and Tyler Schmidt. However, the Wranglers would soon answer back when Hilworth, assisted by Brodie Gohmann, scored to tie the game 2-2.
Stuart praised Hilworth for scoring all two goals for the team and who, according to the KIJHL game report, was the team star for the game.
"He's been a dominant force all through exhibition season, and not only with his goal scoring, but with his style of play. And he's working just as hard, if not harder than anybody else out there - and he's getting rewarded for that."
However, less than a minute after the Wrangler's second goal, a shorthanded goal was scored on the Wranglers by Kaden Ernst, assisted by Jacob Shtaif and Noah Pears - which turned out to be the game-winner - as no goals were scored in the third period.
The Mustangs scored two power-play goals in five power-play chances, while the Wranglers had none. Stuart declined to comment on the penalties taken by the Wranglers and whether or not the undisciplined play cost them, instead praising the team for their resilience.
The Wranglers end the exhibition season with a 3-1 record and officially begin their regular season against the Osoyoos Coyotes on Friday, Sept. 20 at the South Cariboo Rec Centre. Stuart said both he and the team are excited.
"The group is very tight - it's a really tight knit locker room. The camaraderie is unbelievable - the positivity in the town and the dressing room is bar none," Stuart said. "I'm really happy where we are at."
