Marty Wicks takes the ball away from the Ravens’ goal zone, watched by goalie Ryan Tracey. The Midget Ravens beat the Brooks Drillers by a score of 12 to 7.
Bryan Passifiume photo
A little home cooking was all the Crowsnest Pass Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget Ravens were looking for. After mixed results in Lethbridge on the first weekend of league play, the teams were at home on Saturday, May 3 for a series of games. The Crowsnest teams won all six contests in dominant fashion.
The Pee Wee Ravens opened with a game against the Lethbridge Mammoth. Chad Cadonic was the offensive star of the game, notching seven goals as the Ravens rolled to a 9-3 victory. Eric Cadonic and Gareth Williams chipped in with the other two markers and Blain Countryman added two assists. In their second contest later in the day, the Pee Wee Ravens were up against the Nanton Mustangs. After a close 1-1 first period, the Ravens pumped in three goals in the second to take a 4-1 lead, and then hung on for a 5-3 victory. Derek Tarcon had one goal and two assists, Connor Howard scored twice and Brock Draper and Gareth Williams added singles. Brydon Rauser, fresh from a goalie camp last weekend, was outstanding in both contests.
With the two wins, the Pee Wee Ravens improve to 3-1 on the season and are near the top of the Southern Alberta Lacrosse League Pee Wee standings.
The Bantam Ravens started their weekend with a game against the Strathmore Cobras. The Ravens started slowly against a less talented team and came out of the first period in a 1-1 tie. The team showed some offensive spark in the second and began to pull away from the Cobras, taking a 5-2 lead in the third. Some great teamwork in the third brought more goals and the Ravens finished off with a 10-4 victory. Despite the victory, the team was more concerned with the injury to Graham Milligan, a great all around player, who went down with a broken leg in a freak fall late in the game. Milligan had two goals and an assist in the game and was very strong in the defensive end.
Coach Joey Ambrosi noted, “It was a strange play in which he got slashed and then fell at an awkward angle. The team was quite upset after the game, and we all wish Graham a speedy recovery and hope he will be back for the playoffs at the end of the season. The team will miss him very much at both ends of the floor.”
In the victory over the Cobras, Josh Cadonic fired in five goals, Milligan had two, Aaron Brown also had two, and Ryan Tarcon contributed with a goal and an assist. In their second game, the Bantam Ravens faced the Strathmore Rattlers. The Ravens started strong, building up leads of 3-1 and 7-5 after the end of the first and second periods.
Strathmore put a big scare into the Ravens with two goals early in the third to tie the contest at 7-7. The Ravens responded to the Rattler comeback with some great team play and four goals to seal an 11-7 victory. Aaron Brown with six goals and Tanner Siray with four goals provided the main scoring attack for the Ravens. Connor Howard had the other Raven goal. Tyler Ambrosi with two assists and Lane Crawford with one helped move the ball around on offence.
Newcomers to the sport, Cierra Ross, Brayden Jackson and Tayte Hale-Goddard worked hard on both ends of the floor. Mitch Makin, the Raven goalie, made key saves in the third period to secure the win. The Bantam Ravens also move to 3-1 on the season, which ties them for top spot in the Bantam Division.
The Midget Ravens played a doubleheader against a feisty Brooks Driller squad.
In the first match, the Ravens had a great start and emerged with a 4-1 lead after one period. Brooks made some inroads in the second and third periods, but could never mount a complete comeback due to the stingy Raven defence, and the Midget Ravens finished off the Drillers with a convincing 12-7 victory. Jace Bohmer led the Raven attack with five goals and an assist. Kyle Green had one goal and two assists, and the balanced attacked included single goals from Haden Houze, Adam Maufort, Corey Gingras, Kevin Tompkins, Alex Wakaluk and Taylor Siray. For Siray, the goal was particularly sweet, as he played last year for the Brooks squad.
Ryan Tracey was pressed into action as goaltender for the first time ever, and did an outstanding job, making many excellent saves throughout the game. The second game opened in the same fashion as the first, with the Ravens running to a 5-1 lead after one period. Brooks cut the lead to 5-3 after two periods. Early in the third, the Midget Ravens popped three quick goals to take an 8-3 lead, after which it looked like they thought the game was over. Brooks failed to give up and sniped four goals in five minutes late in the period to pull within 8-7 with just over two minutes left. The Ravens withheld the final Drillers’ onslaught to squeak out a very close 8-7 win. Coach Ambrosi stated that “it is always tough to play the same team twice in one day. The emotions from the first game always carry over to the second one. I thought our guys did a great job in the first and came out on fire. Maybe they tired a bit in the second and third, and I’m sure they thought they had it wrapped up with that 8-3 lead. Full credit to Brooks for their comeback.” The Ravens offence was very balanced, with Houze scoring twice, Bohmer and Marty Wicks each with one goal and one assist, and Graham Brown, Alex Elliott, Kyle Green and Corey Gingras each with singles. Dylan Stephens, Shea Sagrafena and Jesse Wocknitz were towers of strength on the defensive end in both games.
Another first-time goaltender, Maufort, was pressed into service, and despite some nervous moments in the third period, made some great saves. The Midget Ravens lost two close games to an excellent Lethbridge team on the opening weekend and their record now sits at 2-2.
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