The Cranbrook Bantam AA C.P.C. (Cranbrook Pest Control) Hornets gained three of a possible four points in South Central Alberta Hockey League action this weekend, earning a 3-3 tie on the road Saturday against the Badlands Longhorns in Brooks, Alberta before boarding the bus and trekking home Sunday afternoon for a 6-2 win over the Innisfail Flyers at the Memorial Arena.
The C.P.C. Hornets fought off some early bus-legs Saturday in Brooks as the Longhorns outshot the Hornets 16-10 in the first period, only to come up empty as the teams were scoreless after one period.
In the second the Hornets opened the scoring when Shawn Kiedyk notched his 4th of the season with Gareth Osmar and Chase Leroux adding the assists. 90 seconds later the Longhorns tied it and then took the lead at the 12-minute mark before Hornet forward James Rota knotted the score at two on a breakaway to send the two teams into the third period deadlocked.
The Hornets then got into some serious penalty trouble at the tail-end of the second and into the third period, giving the Longhorns two, 5-on-3 power play opportunities, only to kill them off before giving up a shorthanded goal halfway through the third period.
With the Longhorns up 3-2 the Hornets surrendered yet another 5-on-3 late on the game, which they managed to kill off, only to go down a man yet again with less than two minutes left. With 44 seconds left in the game Osmar notched his second point of the game with his 6th goal of the season, stripping the puck of a Longhorn D-man at their blueline and then scoring on a low wrist-shot, stick-side, to salvage the tie.
Caden McCormack was stellar in stopping 33 of 36 shots as the Hornets amassed 66 penalty minutes – including three, ten-minute misconducts for not having their mouthguards completely in place and another ten when some displeasure was voiced – to the Longhorns’ 12.
On Sunday the North Division’s Innisfail Flyers visited the Memorial Arena and found themselves in trouble early.
Four, first period goals by Korbyn Chabot, Rylan D’Etcheverrey, Gareth Osmar and Tyler Van Steinburg gave the Hornets a commanding 4-0 lead after one period. The Flyers got one back in the second but it was as close as they would come as Osmar and Chabot added two more in the third – chasing Flyers starter Lane Brann from the nets in the process – before settling for a 6-2 win. Robert Nickell stopped 22 of 24 shots to earn the win.
The C.P.C. Hornets improved to 5-4-3 on the season, good for 13 points in the SCAHL’s South Division and second place behind Medicine Hat.
The club now enters a break in the SCAHL schedule and will host an exhibition doubleheader Saturday and Sunday against the Spokane Bantam AA Chiefs. Saturday night the Hornets will entertain the Chiefs at the Memorial Arena at 6PM and on Sunday at Noon at Western Financial Place.
