The Warriors put together a 2-1 record and reached the championship final before finishing in second place at the event, which was the first tournament for the local crew in nearly two years.
“First off, the team had a lot of fun this weekend,” said Warriors coach Dan Bechard. “Finishing the tournament with a 2-1 record has the boys playing confident and buying into the team identity. They set another standard for themselves. The coaches and players are looking forward to a couple good weeks of practice before our home and home with Lumsden the final weekend of November and a busy start to December with 4 games in 6 nights.”
Moose Jaw went into the event with an 0-5 record in league play and seeking their first win of the season. They got that and then some with a 7-3 victory over the host Melfort Mustangs on Friday night.
The win was especially heartening in that it was the Warriors’ highest offensive output of the season -- and came on the heels of back-to-back shutout losses in their previous outings.
Nate Lewko scored twice and added an assist, while Keaton Weinheimer had a pair of goals. Hayden Bakke, Jaxson Simpson-Wray and Nick Bechard had their other markers. Cole Fox was the winning goaltender.
The Warriors found themselves in a much closer contest in their second outing but came away with a 3-2 victory over the Martensville Marauders.
Lewko, Bakke and Tanner Neustaeter scored for Moose Jaw while Jacoby Webb had two assists and brought a key physical presence to the contest. Jayce Finiack turned in a solid showing to earn the win in goal.
The win over Martensville sent the Warriors into the championship game, but they were unable to cap the event with a title, falling 8-2 to the Warman Wildcats.
Bechard and Tyler Allain scored for Moose Jaw, Fox took the loss in net.
Now, it’ll be a matter of using the momentum of this past weekend as a push for their return to league play in their home-and-home set with Lumsden. The two teams face off in Lumsden on Nov. 26 before returning to Moose Jaw on Nov. 28, with game time 1 p.m. at Mosaic Place.
“We have a fantastic group of young men on this team,” Bechard said. “We continue to develop the team-first mindset; the boys are having fun, they work for each other and know they can win. We continue to improve, and I cannot wait to see how the boys translate this success into league play.”
