The Quesnel Kangaroos had their first game of the playoffs Saturday night against the Williams Lake Stampeders and despite the close game, faced a loss in the packed West Fraser Centre. The next game will be next weekend (March. 1) in Williams Lake. If the Roos win, they'll play a third game on Sunday.
"It's two good teams playing each other and we ended up on the wrong end of it tonight, but you gotta have short memories and come back next weekend and steal two," said the Kangaroos' head coach Jordan Draper after the game.
In the 5-4 game, the Stamps' Andrew Hodder scored the first goal. Not long after, the Roos tied things up with a goal from Mitchell Brown. The Stampeders got the lead back with a goal from Brendan Pigeon. With just a second left on the clock in the first period, Mitchell Brown scored his second goal of the night and tied the game back up.
Each goal the Roos scored brought cheers from the crowd, while some calls from referees brought boos and jeers.
Roos players outscored the Stampeders in the second period with both Darby Madill and Brayden Dale scoring goals early in the period. The Stamps did get one of their own with Kyler Wilkinson scoring in the last few minutes of the period.
The final period, and the game, was won by the Stampeders who scored two more goals. Corbin Marcotte and Nicholas Fidanza both scored, giving the Stampeders a one-goal victory.
Throughout the night, the crowd at the West Fraser Centre gave the team cheers each time the Roos' goalie, Alex Wright, made a big save which happened often throughout the night.
"He played pretty spectacular," Draper said of Wright's game. "He made some really good saves."
But Draper said that was the only area the team excelled.
"I don't think that we had our best effort today for really any part of the game but we're just hoping for a better effort next weekend."
Each game between the two teams has been hard-fought and led to a close finish, a trend which will likely continue into the next game, or games, the teams play against one another.
"It's two good hockey teams playing, every game's gonna be close," Draper said.
If the Roos win on Saturday, they'll have another game at the West Fraser Centre Sunday to decide who moves on in the playoffs.
