The task will be daunting, but with a taste of success in two of their most recent outings, the Moose Jaw U13 AA Warriors will be looking for a continuation of their winning ways in the Saskatchewan AA Hockey League playoffs this weekend.
The Warriors will travel to Melville to face the Millionaires in the opening game of their best-of-three series on Saturday before hosting the Mills in game two on Sunday, with puck drop at 3 p.m. at the Kinsmen Arena. Game three of the series will take place Tuesday in Melville if necessary.
Moose Jaw finished their regular season with a 5-20-0-0 record to land fifth in the six-team South Sask division, setting up their battle with fifth-place Melville, who finished 10-15-0-0.
The two teams met five times this past season, and there were some tough outings for the local squad, as the Millionaires outscored the Warriors 45-11 in that span.
That included an 11-1 loss back on Oct. 11 and an 11-0 defeat on Nov. 20 before the Warriors were able to close ground with a 5-2 loss on Nov. 21.
The Warriors were within five goals in their two most recent meetings, an 11-6 loss on Dec. 4 and a 7-2 loss on Dec. 5, with both games in Caronport.
The good news is Moose Jaw is heading into the playoffs with back-to-back wins under their belt this past weekend.
The Warriors took a 4-3 win in Weyburn on Saturday before following up with a 7-1 victory in the rematch at the Bert Hunt Arena Sunday.
Moose Jaw needed a comeback against the Wings in their first meeting of the weekend after giving up three in the first period and trailing 3-1.
Soren Hayden would see to it that would be the case, as he finished the game with a hat trick, including the tying goal 7:27 into the third and game-winning marker with 54 seconds to play. Luke Pratte had their other goal in the second period.
Brycen Galbraith had 23 saves in the win.
One day later, it was all Warriors from the start, as they took a 4-0 lead out of the first period and led 6-0 through two.
Hayden had another solid outing with two goals and four points, while Tylan Arnold also had a pair. Kingson McLeod added a goal and two assists, Jackson Boyle had a goal and an assist and Takeo Smith had their other marker.
Spencer Jameson was busy in goal but turned in a 43-save showing to earn the win.
The U13 Warriors were the only local AA team to make the playoffs, as the U15 AA Warriors finished with a 1-25-0-1 record and the U18 AA Warriors ended up at 11-21-1-2, a mere six points out of the eighth playoff berth in the South Sask division.