BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Renegades are championship-bound.
On March 9, Barrhead qualified for the U18 Tier 3 North Eastern Alberta Hockey League (NEAHL) championships, defeating the Mannville/Irma Aces in the second game of a two-game home-and-home total goal series 4-1, keeping their undefeated regular season and playoff streak intact in front of the home crowd. Barrhead tied the Aces 4-4 on the road the day before.
"We played well, but we got off to a bit of a slow start, but we were able to battle back," head coach JC Lane said about their opening game of the third round.
In the first round, the Barrhead received a bye and defeated the Wabasca in two lopsided games, 9-4 and 8-4, to reach the third round.
In the opening frame, the Aces took it to the visitors early on, scoring two quick goals 15 seconds apart less than three minutes in. They also outshot the Renegades 15-0.
Barrhead got on to the scoreboard late in the period with a power-play goal by Layne Young, with helpers from Rylan Keith and Gaige Couiyk.
In the second period, Barrhead turned on the pressure, scoring a quick goal thanks to Young with an assist by Caden Lane. The Renegades would score two more goals in the period, the first by Carson Nanninga, assisted by Nathan Erickson and James Tyrrell, and the other by Tyrrell with help from Erickson and Nanninga. Barrhead outshot Mannville/Irma 25-12 in the period.
In the third period, the Aces scored the only two goals despite being outshot 18-10.
Jack Fitzpatrick got the start for the Barrhead, stopping 35 of 39 shots.
In the second game, Barrhead blanked the Aces, scoring three goals in the period, the first by Erickson, assisted by Tyrrell, on a two-man power-play, followed by Drake Schlitter with assists from Mason Loffelbein and Tyrrell. Young scored the final goal of the opening period on a power-play with assists going to Lane and Lincoln Taron.
Mannville/Irma got onto the board just short of the three-minute mark of the second period, taking advantage of power-play after a Barrhead player was called for tripping.
Barrhead got the goal back with just over seven minutes left in the frame when Lane scored an unassisted goal on a shorthanded breakaway.
There were no goals in the third period.
Fitzpatrick once again got the start, turning in a solid performance, stopping all but one of 22 shots for the win.
"Going into the series, we knew we were facing a good team and that we would have to be well-disciplined and that special teams would play a factor, especially the power-play," Lane said, adding the Aces were among the more penalized teams in the league.
Three of the Renegades' eight goals came while they were on the power-play.
Barrhead will play either Mayerthorpe or Plamodon in the NEAHL finals in the best-of-three series. Mayerthorpe finished the regular season with 13 wins versus 5 losses and 2 ties to earn the top spot in the West Division, while Plamondon finished the season with 14 wins, 9 losses and one tie, finishing at the top of the North Division.
The Renegades have played Plamondon twice in the regular season, beating them 11 to 3 and shutting them out 7 to 0. They only played Mayerthorpe in the preseason, with Barrhead losing 4-3.
The win also secured the Renegades' ticket to Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships 18 C Championships, which start March 27 in Peace River.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
