Despite a small roster the Ponoka Stampeders held their own against the High River Flyers over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Playing at home Oct. 8, the Stamps played well with offence keeping open in front of the net and finding the holes in the Flyers’ defence. Passing was key for the Stamps in this game with the puck finding its intended player.
The team managed to have a fairly even spread throughout the game although Ponoka was in the lead 2-0 early in the second.
With 2:21 into the second period, Austin Ancion scored with help from Taite Opdendries and Nate Higgins. Just over four minutes later Braden Klessens got on the scoreboard. He got an assist from Jordan Sears and Kacey Straub to sink the puck.
Despite a short bench of 14 players, including the goalie, the Stamps appeared to be working well under pressure, keeping a relatively clean second period.
By the end of the second, however, the Flyers had found their matching goals with it being tied 2-2.
Ponoka scored early in the third with a second goal from Ancion, who was assisted by Justin McKenzie and Straub. High River ended up scoring two more goals in the middle portion of the third period, giving them a 4-3 lead against Ponoka.
It was Nate Higgins who tied it 4-4 with an assist from Opdendries and Brayden Wells.
This brought the game into overtime with the Flyers managing to sink the puck and win 5-4.
Penalty minutes were relatively mild with a total of 14 for Ponoka and 12 for the flyers. During the overtime period, Ponoka earned two minutes for elbowing.
The Stamps had 27 shots on the Flyers’ net, compared to 54 against Ponoka.
The previous days’ performance by the Stampeders versus the Strathmore Wheat Kings was not as strong with a loss of 10-4.
