Although they played hard, the Quesnel Thunder bantam hockey team gave up two wins Saturday to the visiting Williams Lake Timberwolves.
Following a loss Saturday morning, the Thunder hoped to even things up in the afternoon, but came away with a 3-2 loss.
“We played a dynamite game this morning,” coach Brian Kozak said.
“We controlled the game, we had some great passing, we just didn’t get the win.”
The afternoon tilt against the Timberwolves was less than stellar for the Thunder who found themselves fighting the puck on several occasions.
“The puck was not our friend,” Kozak said.
“It just seemed we were fighting the puck the whole game.”
Also not helping, Kozak, admitted, was his players seemed tired and didn’t play as hard as they had in the morning.
Thunder defenceman and assistant captain, Cole Slaney, agreed.
“We eventually got into the game, but we have to learn to play a full 60 minutes,” Slaney said.
Despite putting in some nice end-to-end rushes and having a solid game on defence, Slaney admitted he felt tired during the game.
“I was feeling fatigued, my body was shutting down,” Slaney a Grade 8 student at QJS who hopes to make the WHL one day, said of his physical state during the game.
An unfriendly puck put the Thunder behind the eight-ball in the first period after the puck bounced over a stick here and off a knee there to send a Timberwolves player streaking down the left side for a clear shot at the net to put his team ahead 1-0.
Minutes later, a fluttering shot from the left-hand point was redirected and the Timberwolves took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room despite the best efforts of netminder Cole Daniels.
The second period was a stronger period for the home team, but unfortunately they couldn’t capitalize on two powerplay opportunities and they went into the third period still down 2-0.
The Thunder picked their game up another notch in the third period and they were rewarded midway through the period with a goal by Kurt Izzard who lobbed the puck in from the blueline.
At the other end, Daniels continued to be solid between the pipes and made the save of the game while his team was shorthanded.
During a scramble in front of the Thunder net, Daniels reached back with his stick to stop the puck on the goal line.
“He had a strong game for us,” Kozak said.
The Thunder evened up the score on the powerplay with six minutes to play when Ian Jarvis roofed a shot shortside from the bottom of the faceoff circle.
Unfortunately, an untimely line change by the Thunder left two Timberwolves with the puck for an odd-man rush that ended with the puck at the back of the Thunder net.
The Thunder had a powerplay opportunity to try and even up the score but couldn’t light the red lamp.
One reason for the fatigue, Kozak suggested, was his team was starting to play a more physical game, dishing out body checks, something they hadn’t had to do earlier in the season.
In addition, the Thunder have to learn when to take the body so they don’t get out of position.
“We started the season playing teams we dominated, so we didn’t enforce our game plan,” Kozak said.
“Now the last 10 games we’ve started hitting, and they have to learn how to finish their checks and when to hit.”
The bantam Thunder leave Thursday for a tournament in Westside.
