The Harvest put up another good fight against one of the top teams in the league but came out of it on the wrong end of a 2-1 defeat, after giving up the winning goal in overtime.
Yorkton traveled to Saskatoon on Grey Cup Sunday to take on the Saskatoon Contacts in what was the teams' second meeting with each other in eight days.
"Both teams played shorthanded," claimed Graham Garrett, Harvest head coach. "We have more injuries now too," he said.
With the tryouts being held for a Saskatchewan Hockey Association U16 camp, two additional players, Adam McCannell and Kailum Gervais, were both out of a lineup for a game Garrett suggested easily could have gone the other way.
"Oh, yeah," he said, adding that a matchup between the league's top club and seventh-place team could have gone Yorkton's way.
"It was a really competitive game."
Saskatoon opened up with a barrage of shots in the opening period on Yorkton's Kale Thompson, but only managed to beat him once.
That goal came at the 10:32 mark of the first period when Tanner Tyndall tallied from Kohl Bauml and Taylor Leier.
Despite outshooting the Contacts in the second period, neither team got on the scoresheet. Yorkton put 13 shots on net and Saskatoon put on eight; the Contacts had 17 in the opening period. Harvest rookie Ryley Stefanyshyn notched the tying goal at 4:18 of the final period scoring on the power play from Devan Fafard and Roddy Sewap.
Saskatoon's Leier scored the game winner at 4:11 into overtime to deliver the Contacts the win.
Garrett said that the goal came right after Yorkton had a brilliant chance to end it, but added that that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
"On the winning goal, we had a chance in their end and didn't convert."
With the win, Saskatoon jumps into a tie for first place with the Notre Dame Argos, both with 31 points as of press time. The Harvest fall to seventh position with 19 points as their overall record slips to 8-10.
Both teams scored once on the power play.
The Contacts game was Yorkton's only action in the past seven days. They are in the middle of another break before the Beardy's Blackhawks come to town Saturday and Sunday to take on the Harvest in back to back games. Action starts at the Gallagher Centre Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Yorkton then heads back on the road to take on the Pat Canadians in Regina the following Thursday night (Dec. 9).
Yorkton is looking to keep pace with both Regina and Beardy's who lead them by no more than three points in the standings.
