Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the 51暗网
The U15 Bearcats played their first game of the season (preseason) this past Sunday. But before I get into the details of said Thanksgiving weekend game, I would first like to introduce the 2022/23 U15 Bearcats.
This year鈥檚 roster looks very similar to last year鈥檚, with the exception of two new players, taking the place of two who have moved on. In no particular order, this year鈥檚 team consists of Bode Hofhuis, Casey Peel, Dustin Derksen, Carson Miller, Jackson Irwin, Lincoln Radloff, Austin Schmidt, Louis Campeau, Joshua Doyle, Carson Campbell, Drew Kovacs, Cache LeBlanc and Brady Campbell. Our coaches are Alexander Derksen, Royd Irwin, David Miller and Jim Campbell. And our team Manager is Ambur Doyle.
While most people were at home enjoying the aroma of Turkey cooking in the oven, the Bearcats and their families were instead enjoying the atmosphere of the Hinton hockey arena. And we wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way.
The game got off to a great start when Jackson Irwin got Jasper on the board within the first few minutes. Irwin then got the second goal of the game a couple of minutes later, and the Bearcats had a 2-0 lead. The celebration was short-lived, however, when Hinton scored back-to-back goals to tie it up halfway through the period. After battling back and forth, with one minute left in the first period, Irwin passed the puck up to the blue line where Carson Campbell was ready and waiting to take it all the way to the back of the net.
Up 3-2 going into the second period, Jasper was focused on keeping their lead. However, Hinton had other plans and tied it back up a few minutes in. Followed by yet another goal from Hinton, the Bearcats had their work cut out for them. A few minutes later, Dustin Derksen鈥檚 work paid off when he skated the puck towards Hinton鈥檚 net and passed it across to Irwin who scored his hat-trick goal, while evening out the score at 4-4. This was the point in the game when things turned south, as the Bearcats鈥� short bench was starting to look fatigued. With double the number of players on their bench, and double the number of shots on Jasper鈥檚 net, Hinton was able to get two more goals before the end of the period, sending the Bearcats into the second intermission down 6-4.
A comeback just wasn鈥檛 in the cards for Jasper in the third period. Hinton secured their lead with two more unanswered goals and sent the Bearcats packing with a final score of 8-4.
This wasn鈥檛 the start to the preseason that Jasper had hoped for, but they worked hard and will move forward to their next game in Whitecourt this Saturday. Stay tuned for the details of that game in next week鈥檚 issue.
