A hat trick by Teryn Archer lifted the Prince Rupert Sea Wolves bantam rep squad to a 5-3 victory over Terrace’s ‘B’ bantam team on Sunday morning.
With his team playing well and shutting down any offence from Terrace, whose speed wasn’t quite comparable with the Sea Wolves’, Archer gave his crew a two-goal cushion in the first period after he banked in a shot off sprawled-out Terrace netminder Dalan Marleau with four minutes to go in the first frame on the power-play.
Prior to that, Liam Quane scooped up a rebound just eight minutes into the game when Marleau stopped Manreet Deol’s original shot from the slot.
Rupert goalie Eric Tubb, one of the tallest players on the ice, turned aside a great deal of the Terrace reps’ shots until a loose rebound lying in his crease was gobbled up by Kayden Lang to cut Rupert’s lead to 2-1 early in the second stanza.
Terrace threatened to tie it up but a nice poke-check by Tubb on a cross-crease pass neutralized the visiting team’s attempted one-timer from point-blank range.
Just minutes later, the Sea Wolves restored their two-goal advantage when Archer caught Marleau off-guard with a quick shot assisted by Marcus Shepert.
Then things turned sour when Terrace’s Austin Owens crunched Sea Wolves’ captain Deol into the boards. Deol had some choice words for Owens before the ref could separate the two. The captain let his play on the ice do the talking when, on the next power-play, he skated the puck around the zone by himself with no Terrace opposition member able to pry it loose from his grasp, but couldn’t convert as the second period came to a close with Rupert up 3-1.
A furious, two-goal outburst by the home team just 30 seconds into the third pulled the Sea Wolves ahead for good.
A slapshot from the top of the point by Keenan Marogna caught Marleau off-guard for the 4-1 lead. Then, just a minute later, Archer completed his hat trick when he tipped a shot by Taylor Northcott home into the twine for the Sea Wolves’ commanding 5-1 lead.
But with 13 minutes to go and the bantams taking their foot off the gas, Terrace’s Cole Costain slipped a loose puck by Tubb’s short-side coverage on an almost impossible angle.
A goal from Owens on the breakaway with a Peter Forsberg-like signature shootout move cut Rupert’s lead to two on the power-play and ended the game 5-3.
Rupert’s bantams also received strong games from Brett Fudger, Hunter Wiley and Vish Sekhon.