Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the 51暗网
The U15 Jasper Bearcats played their hearts out last weekend when they faced off against the Whitecourt Wolverines.
Upon arriving in Whitecourt on Saturday afternoon, the Bearcats were feeling determined yet uncertain about how this game would go. After a tough loss to Hinton one week prior, Jasper was eager to regain their confidence.
The first period showcased the talent of both teams as they battled back and forth. Whitecourt couldn鈥檛 get the puck past the Bearcats鈥� brick wall Brady 鈥淪oupy鈥� Campbell, and Jasper couldn鈥檛 seem to get anything past the Wolverine鈥檚 netminder, just the same.
Going into the second period still scoreless, the Bearcats got right back to work. And I want to make sure I鈥檓 painting this picture accurately. This was anything but boring hockey. Spectators were on the edge of their seats the whole time, watching in disbelief as players were robbed time and again at each end of the rink. Finally, about halfway through the period, Jackson Irwin passed the puck up the ice to Dustin Derksen who fired it across to Drew Kovacs for a beauty play, and the first goal of the game. The Wolverines turned it up a notch after that, and on their 30th attempt, they finally got one past Campbell. The teams were tied 1-1 after 40 minutes of play.
The third period was make or break. But Soupy was locked in. And although #14 (Liam Parker) on Whitecourt鈥檚 defense made it hard to get the puck out of Jasper鈥檚 end a lot of the time, Kovacs was determined. When he got the chance, he took a shot towards Whitecourt鈥檚 net that Carson Campbell tipped in, for the winning goal. Try as they might, the Wolverines could not answer that goal, and the Bearcats won 2-1.
This weekend, the Jasper Bearcats will host the Edson Sabres for their first home game, and last preseason game of the year. Come on down and support your U15 Bearcats at 11 a.m. this Saturday.
