The Yorkton UCT Bantam Terriers added the Moose Jaw Warriors to their victim list on Sunday, October 26, easily brushing aside the visiting Warriors by a score of 13-2 to improve to a perfect 9-0-0-0 in SBAAHL play.
Aiden Bulych got the Terrier offence going in the game when he beat Warrior netminder Garret Goy to make it 1-0 just 50 seconds into the game.
A tripping penalty to Yorkton's Keanan Sperling just 3:44 into the opening frame gave Moose Jaw their first powerplay opportunity; an opportunity they didn't waste as Quinn Ingalls beat Yorkton goalie Tyson Byman to make it 1-1 just over a minute into the man advantage.
But instead of demoralizing the Terriers the Warrior goal actually did the opposite as it pumped them up, resulting in Yorkton scoring the next four goals in the period, one each by Keenan Taphorn, Michael Coleridge, Reid Perepeluk and Zach McIntyre, to take a commanding 5-1 lead into the first intermission.
Perepeluk made it 6-1 just under four minutes into the second frame when his point blast eluded Goy. A Sperling powerplay goal made it 7-1 for the hosts at the 12:19 mark of the middle frame before Carson Miller rounded out the second period scoring with his 14th goal of the season to send the game into the second intermission 8-1 in favour of Yorkton.
A quick Warrior goal off the stick of Reece Newkirk cut the Terrier lead to six at 8-2, but five more Yorkton goals washed away any doubt that Yorkton would be the victor. Final score: Yorkton 13, Moose Jaw 2.
Tyson Byman picked up the win between the Yorkton pipes stopping three-of-five shots on a very slow night while Goy shouldered the loss for the Warriors, turning aside 50-of-63 UCT Terrier pucks.
Brett Kemp led all UCT Terrier players in scoring with six assists in the game while forwards Aiden Bulych (two goals, two assists) and Carson Miller (one goal, three assists) each had four point games.
Keenan Taphorn and Keanan Sperling both picked up two goals while singles came off the sticks of Zach McIntyre, Ashton Shewchuk and Michael Coleridge respectively.
Defenceman Reid Perepeluk also had a strong game offensively, finding the back of the net three times while adding one assist to give him 17 goals and 12 assists in nine games this season; more than enough to lead all defencemen in the SBAAHL in scoring by a wide margin.
But Perepeluk's shot does more for the UCT Terriers than just find the back of the net. Obviously he scores," suggested UCT Terrier head coach Graham Garrett when asked about his star blueliner. "Their wingers don't like to go out and block that shot and he's really done a lot better here these last few games having his shot down low which gives our forwards the opportunity to tip them. It lets the forwards be a little more confident going in front of the net that things aren't going to come whistling by their ear.
"There are a few things you want from a defenceman's shot: A nice, hard, low shot that creates goals, rebounds or tips and Reid's shot is doing that very well right now."
However Perepeluk wasn't the only player that earned the praise of the head coach on Sunday afternoon. The line of Brett Kemp, Aiden Bulych and Michael Coleridge also caught the eye of the head coach. "I thought Kemp's line was very good today," mentioned Garrett. "They controlled the puck, cycled well and scored lots of goals."
Garrett also mentioned that Sunday's game was the first time this season that all three lines and defensive pairings have been completely healthy, with the somewhat balanced scoring evident of that. "Having everyone healthy gives us three lines and three sets of d-men that will allow that continuity that we haven't been able to have for the first month and I think it showed today," suggested the UCT Terrier bench boss, continuing, "We were able to get offence from all three lines and that's going to be huge going forward."
Next action
The next SBAAHL action for the Yorkton UCT Terriers (9-0-0-0) will not be until Saturday, November 8 when they welcome the Swift Current Kabos Raiders (2-7-0-0) to the Yorkton Kinsmen Arena at 4:00p.m.
The UCT Terriers will see their first tournament action this weekend when they travel to Regina for the 25-team Graham Tuer Bantam AA Challenge with the hopes of defending their 2013 tournament title.
