The Whitecourt Wolverines had a mixed start to their four-game homestand over the weekend, falling 6-3 to the Drayton Valley Thunder Friday night, but bouncing back with a 5-3 victory over the Canmore Eagles Saturday.
On Oct. 2, Drayton Valley took a 1-0 lead just 1:49 into the game, but Wolverine Chayse King tied it 1-1 at 14:31. Spencer Claerhout assisted.
The Thunder dominated period two action with three goals to establish a 4-1 lead, including a power play goal after Whitecourt’s Jake Banicevic went to the box for tripping.
Drayton Valley opened the scoring in the third frame as well to make it 5-1, but Whitecourt’s Kyle Tucker answered at 8:50, his first of the season, to shorten Drayton Valley’s lead to 5-2, with assistance from Ty Rayan and Spencer Claerhout.
The Thunder netted another at 14:49, making it 6-2, but Wolverine Kaiden Beniuk earned a late goal with nine seconds left in the game to make it a 6-3 final. Justus Chyld assisted on the play.
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On Oct. 3, the Wolverines hosted the Canmore Eagles.
The Eagles opened the scoring at 12:25, but Grayson Niehaus tied it 1-1 about one minute later. Chayse King and Jake Banicevic assisted.
In the second frame, Whitecourt scored three unanswered goals, starting with Kyle Tucker at 6:59, his second of the season for a 2-1 lead. The helpers went to Ty Rayan and Spencer Claerhout. Tucker scored another at 13:27 to make it 3-1, with Rayan on the assist again, along with Grayson Niehaus.
Jackson DeGraves and Justin Pichette then assisted Parker Fitzgerald on his first goal of the season, boosting the Wolverines lead to 4-1 just over a minute later.
The frame ended with one more goal by the Eagles to narrow Whitecourt’s lead to 4-2.
Period three saw Wolverine Brady Gamble head to the box for delaying the game, putting Canmore on the man advantage to score and bring it to 4-3.
Then, with 44 seconds remaining, Tristan Slywka scored his first of the season on an empty net, makint it 5-3 final.
The Whitecourt Wolverines are fifth in the AJHL North Division. The team finishes their home stand on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10, against Bonnyville and Devon, respectively.
