Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the Fitzhugh
The U15 Jasper Bearcats hosted the Edson Sabres and the Hinton Havoc over the weekend, as the home games continued.
Game number one was against the Edson Sabres, who Jasper beat 8-7 at their previous match up. The first period got off to a great start when Jackson Irwin put the Bearcats on the board early into the game. Drew Kovacs and Carson Campbell had the assists on that goal, and then Kovacs buried his own goal with help from Irwin and Campbell. Their lead was short lived though when Edson answered not one, but both of those goals. The period ended in a 2-2 tie.
Austin Schmidt was looking sharp in the second period when he got the tie breaking goal, and his first of the year. But then there was suddenly a shift in momentum that is tough to explain. The Sabres scored. And then scored again. And again. And then they scored two more for a total of five unanswered goals to end the second period 7-3.
The third period didn't go much better for Jasper. Edson scored two more goals, and although Irwin was able to answer one of them, the Sabres got the last jab, finishing this game up with a 10-4 win over the Bearcats. The shots were 67-24.
Game number two was against the Hinton Havoc, who the Jasper Bearcats haven't lost to since the preseason. Kovacs got Jasper on the board early in the first period with some help from Campbell. But Hinton came back with a vengeance and scored back to back goals to end the first period 2-1 for the Havoc.
Now I haven't mentioned this yet, but half of the Bearcats players are hosting exchange students from Quebec. They were all watching intently in the stands, and after witnessing the tough loss to Edson, Jasper wanted to show them what they are capable of. Kovacs came out in the second period and tied it up with some help from Irwin and Dustin Derksen. The tie breaker was then scored by Irwin, from Campbell, and the insurance goal was Kovacs from Irwin. Hinton managed to score one more to make the score 4-3 after 40 minutes.
The Bearcats weren't about to give up their lead at this point. Campbell came out in the third period and scored two goals, while his twin brother, Brady Campbell kept the door shut, not allowing anything to get past him for the rest of the game. Jasper came out victorious, with a 6-3 win over Hinton.
This weekend, the Jasper Bearcats will host the Drayton Valley Thunder on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Be sure to come down and check it out.
