The Terrace-Rupert midget reps were pulling no punches to contribute to the cities’ northwest rivalry Sunday afternoon as the midget rep Kermodes were riding high from a 6-1 win the day before, and things got a little chippy before all was said and done.
A third-period line scuffle highlighted a rough and tumble hockey match that saw the Kermodes take a 6-3 win over their Seawolves rivals, a match either team won’t soon forget.
“That’s kind of how it goes,” said midget rep head coach Roger Atchison after the game.
“With midget hockey, everything’s going along fine and then one little thing and the kids can get excited pretty quick. But overall I don’t think it was too bad. Terrace has got some good numbers and they work hard and they deserved a couple wins this weekend.”
The short-bench Seawolves were playing the full lineup of Kermodes and the new additions to the team had a stiff learning curve, replacing last year’s graduates.
Atchison praised the work of Ben Rabel, Manny Sidhu and Sage Acker as newbies who are finding their feet early this season in a fast-paced league.
“They haven’t played rep for a few years so they’re new to the system and we’ve just got to work ‘em in slow. It’s a tough opponent – Terrace and they’re getting thrown to the wolves ... it’s a pretty fast game,” said Atchison.
Cole Lindsay started the game in net for the Seawolves and while the team fell in a 4-0 hole early, they were able to claw their way back to make the score 5-3 before Eric Vandevelde put one away on a partial break in the third for Terrace after the extra-curricular rough stuff festivities had ended.
Cross-checking calls and scrums in front of the net after the whistle led to the nasty business.
Fred Mowatt also tallied for Terrace while Conner Onstirn scored twice.
For the Seawolves, Austin Weir put Rupert on the board to make the game 4-1, connecting with Drew Fudger.
Later, Cole Atchison scored a nice goal coming off the backcheck and blasting one over the glove of Kermode goalie Marshal Wilson just inside Terrace’s blueline.
Jared Carter rounded out the scoring for Rupert in the 6-3 loss.
In other PRMHA action, the Terrace Bantam reps defeated Rupert, 10-0 on Saturday where Kermode captain Mason Richau had a six-point night with a hat trick and three assists. Brandon Onstein scored twice while adding an assist and Terrence O’Brien had two goals and two assists. Joshua Fernandes had the shutout for the Kermodes.
The next day, Rupert were able to put two past Fernandes as Keenan Morogna and captain Manreet Deohl each scored once in a 12-2 loss. Richau scored six goals for the Kermodes and was in on seven of the 12 goals - adding an assist. Quinn Mulder scored twice and Joshuir Mandha had a goal and two assists.
Meanwhile, in the midget reps’ first game, a 6-1 loss, Austin Weir scored the lone goal for the Seawolves while his No. 21 Kermode counterpart Connor Ornstein notched a hat trick with Liam Albright, Nick Nordstrom and Jarrett Harrison also scoring for Terrace.