BONNYVILLE - As the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs battle their way up the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) standings, now sitting in fourth spot in the league, the grind continues.
On Wednesday, the Pontiacs took on the Lloydminster Bobcats at the RJ Lalonde Arena. Bringing the heat from the start, the Pontiacs' Michael Ryan scored in less than two minutes with an assist from Tyler Blocha.
That goal would be followed about five minutes later with a goal from Pontiac Ludovik Tardif with a pass from team captain Nicolas Beaudoin. It would take the Bobcats until the very end of the first period to return just one of those goals.
However, the second period and the majority of the third saw the Pontiacs scrambling from behind. The Bobcats managed to find the back of the home team's net twice in the second period and once during the third period.
Despite the Pontiacs putting up almost double the shots on net, they were unable to get past the Bobcats' defense and goalie. With a score of 4-2, the Pontiacs' head coach Mario Pouliot made the call to pull goalie Bodee Weiss with two minutes left on the clock.
The Pontiacs took advantage of their extra man on the ice closing the gap by one point with a shot by Blocha over the Bobcats' goalies left shoulder with just 40 seconds left in the game. However, it was not enough to take the lead. The Pontiacs lost 4-3 to the Bobcats.
Change of pace
The Jr. A Pontiacs returned to the RJ refreshed on Friday night to take on the Okotoks Oilers. While the Pontiacs gave up the first two goals of the game, they managed to find their way back with three goals in the first period. Claiming a point was Luka Sukovic, Dante Siciliano and Tardif.
The Pontiacs would go on to earn the first point in the second period scored by Joshua Simpson. Just 30 seconds later, the Oilers were rack up their own point.
But the home team was just getting warmed up. In the third period, Billy Batten, Tardif and Sukovic would each earn another goal.
Friday's game would end in a 7-4 victory over Okotoks.
