Weekend split for Wildcats
Valley loses to Pictou County, beats Fredericton
The Valley Wildcats won one and lost one in recent Maritime Junior Hockey League action.
The Pictou County Weeks Crushers gained two points on the Wildcats with a 6-2 win Feb. 3 while Valley defeated the Fredericton Red Wings
6-4 on Feb. 4. Both games occurred at the Kings Mutual Century Centre in Berwick.
Valley, which is in third place in the Eastlink South Division, improved to 17-20-3-1, four points up on the Crushers (17-22-0-0), who have two games in hand. Fredericton
(14-19-1-2) is in the basement of the Eastlink North Division.
Here’s a recap of the recent games.
WILDCATS 6 RED WINGS 4
Jason Kwestel had three goals and an assist to pace the Wildcats to victory over the Red Wings.
The 20-year-old forward from Rockaway, N.J., leads Valley with 24 goals this season. Ethan Kearney is second with 15.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 4-4 heading to the third.
Cole Foston scored the winner with seven minutes remaining in regulation. Kearney and Dylan Manning also scored in the victory.
Josh Crooks had three assists while singles went to Ethan
Landry, Aidan MacLeod, Braedon Hemenway, Matt Power and Foston.
Manix Sarrasin scored three goals for the Red Wings while Carson Peer had the other.
Evan Martin made 34 saves for the victory in front of 276 people in Berwick while Sebastian Lever stopped 25 shots in the loss.
Justin Bourque, Valley’s No. 1 goalie, served the final game of his five-game suspension he received for cross-checking in the Jan. 20 contest with Edmundston.
Valley played the game without defencemen Aiden Clarke and Dylan Chisholm, who were suspended seven and one games, respectively, from the Feb. 3 game.
Clarke, a 20-year-old Port Williams native, was suspended for head contact. Chisholm’s suspension was for
using disrespectful or abusive words or actions towards the referee or any other person. Chisholm is a 19-year-old Antigonish native.
CRUSHERS 6 WILDCATS 2
The Crushers used a six-goal second period to sink the Wildcats.
Foston gave the home side a 1-0 lead heading to the middle stanza but 20 minutes later the visitors led 6-2 before 395 fans in Berwick.
Bryson Boudreau had a goal and three assists in the win while Nick Mahar had a goal and two helpers. Captain Lucas Parsons, Landon MacIntosh, Ben Mercer and Port Williams native Blake Deacon, a former Wildcat, rounded out the scoring.
Ethan Kearney had Valley’s
other goal while Nick Goodwin, Brendan MacRitchie and Josh Crooks each recorded an assist.
Kenzie MacPhail made 27 saves for the win. Martin allowed five goals on 26 shots in 34 minutes before being replaced by Sam Sinclair, who stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced.
UP NEXT
Valley hits the road this weekend for games in Yarmouth on Friday, Feb. 10, and Amherst on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The Wildcats have 11 games remaining in the regular season with only three occurring on home ice. The Wildcats host Amherst Feb. 24 before closing out the regular season March 10 and 11 against Summerside and Truro, respectively.