For the third time in as many seasons the Yorkton Xerox Terriers find themselves moving on to the SBAAHL 小蓝视频 Division final, this time thanks to a two-games-to-one series win over the upstart Regina Monarchs.
But the series win, while expected, did not come as easy for the Xerox Terriers as they thought it would, as the Monarchs caught the Xerox Terriers peering too far into the future and made them pay for it with a 2-1 upset win over the Xerox Terriers in Yorkton last Thursday in Game One. 鈥淭hey finished sixth and we鈥檝e played them before and we got caught looking at the standings and sometimes you take things for granted a little bit,鈥� said Xerox Terrier head coach Dan Cross after the completion of the series. 鈥淥bviously the Monarchs knew that they had their hands full and they came out with their best effort and we didn鈥檛 come out with our best and as a result they got a couple of late goals in the third period and got the victory which is good for them.鈥�
Kishaun Gervais had the lone Yorkton goal in Game One while Matthew Shewchuk and Davin Griffin tallied for the Monarchs.
Nolan Maier took the loss 鈥� his first in all bantam competitions this year 鈥� stopping 26-of-28 shots while Regina鈥檚 Cole Johnston got the win stopping 21-of-22 Yorkton chances.
Game Two in Regina on Saturday saw the Xerox Terriers come out with a more spirited effort, as first period goals by Aiden Bulych, Zach McIntyre and Ryder Korczak gave the defending SBAAHL champions a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Yorkton鈥檚 Jackson Berezowski made it 4-0 midway through the second period before Shewchuk finally got the Monarchs on the board with his 13th goal of the playoffs to make it 4-1 after two.
A Gervais goal just under four minutes into the final frame made it 5-1 Yorkton 鈥� a score that would end up 小蓝视频 the final as the Xerox Terriers tied their SBAAHL 小蓝视频 Division semi-final series at one game apiece.
Game Three was nearly identical to Game Two, as the Xerox Terriers once again jumped out to a 4-0 lead, this time on goals by Massen Ziola, Evan Matatall, Berezowski and Gervais before Shewchuk again put the Monarchs on the board to make it 4-1.
A Bulych marker late in the third period on the power play rounded out the Game Three scoring, giving Yorkton their second consecutive 5-1 win and more importantly a two-games-to-one series win. 鈥淚 think the final two games we played better as a team than we had all year long and again, that clinching game it was our third line that was chipping in with points and we got a goal from one of our defencemen and that鈥檚 the way we鈥檝e been successful all year,鈥� said Cross. 鈥淲hen all three lines are producing, which has been the case for most of the year, that鈥檚 when we have most of our success and hopefully now we鈥檙e ready to roll and we鈥檙e excited to be in the 小蓝视频 Division final.鈥�
Speaking of the 小蓝视频 Division final, the Xerox Terriers now find themselves facing the only team in the league that was able to defeat them in the regular season - the Estevan TS&M Bruins 鈥� who defeated the Xerox Terriers 7-5 in Yorkton鈥檚 second game of the season.
Game One is scheduled for tonight (Wednesday) at the Farrell Agencies Arena for a 7:00p.m. puck drop. Game Two goes Friday night in Estevan with Game Three (if needed) in Yorkton at the Farrell Agencies Arena Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm.
