The 100 Mile House Wranglers lost Game 3 of their second-round playoff tilt 5-2 on home ice on March 11, but they have nothing to hang their heads about.
Tonight was similar to how the series has gone from the beginning, says general manager/coach Doug Rogers.
“We work extremely hard but cannot match their skill, experience nor their physical maturity. Our guys, over half of whom are 17 or younger in hockey terms, are giving everything they have, but we just can’t match it with our depleted lineup.”
The Wranglers had eight players, who would have taken regular shifts, out of the lineup.
The included Robert Orrey (shoulder), Shane Doherty, Jaidan Ward, Donovan Law, Tyson Levesque (all out with concussions), Michael Lynch (shoulder), Kevin Raimundo (leg), Luke Santerno (suspended for Game 3).
“That is eight guys off our roster and it makes a huge difference in our ability to compete with Kamloops.”
As far as scoring goes, five of the seven combined goals were scored with the man advantage. Kamloops went three for five and 100 Mile notched their two power play goals on their five opportunities.
Kamloops opened the scoring at 14:43 of the first period.
However, Jordan Low tied it for the Wranglers on a power play at the 11-minute mark of the frame with assists going to Lane van de Wetering and Jayden Syrota.
Kamloops took the 2-1 lead three minutes later.
However, the Wranglers got a power play marker from Connor Sloan (van de Wetering, Cole Zimmerman) to knot the score at two apiece at 17:45 of the second.
But, that’s all she wrote for 100 Mile House lads, as Kamloops notched three unanswered, including two on the power play.
Wranglers goalie Kristian Stead has been outstanding in goal during the series and once again faced a lot of shots – 45 compared to the 12 the Wranglers got on the Kamloops goal tender.
He is proving to a lot of people that he is ready for the next level, says Rogers.
“I am extremely proud of the effort put forth by the group [Wranglers] in this series. To be in the final eight teams in our inaugural season is a credit to how hard they have worked.”
Game 4 is tonight (March 12), but the score is unavailable.
Says Rogers going into the contest: “We look forward to working hard in Game 4 to proudly represent this community.”
