Written by: Rory McGouran
The Broncos stormed the castle of the reigning SJHL champions on Friday night and dethroned the Battlefords North Stars 2-1 in a shootout in the first meeting of the season between the two Nutrien Division Rivals.
Fast paced, great goaltending, back and forth action, and needed a shootout to determine the winner, the evening matchup at the Access Communications Centre was everything you’d expect between the two rivals. Goals were the only premium, as both Ben Motew and Justin Maric played outstanding between the pipes.
The only two goals of the game were scored just under four minutes apart in the second frame.
Rookie blueliner sensation Carson Olsen scored his third goal of the season to give the North Stars a 1-0 lead. It was the first time this season that the Broncos conceded the game’s opening goal. However, a few shifts later, Cage Newans banged home a rebound in a broken-up goal mouth scramble to tie the game with his 7th of the campaign.
Otherwise, it was a goalie’s showdown. Motew turned aside 28 of 29 in net for the victory, while his creased counterpart, Justin Maric, stopped 35 of 36.
After overtime solved nothing, the two teams headed into a shootout, both for the first time this season.
Motew was able to shut down Ben Portner, Bradley Blake, and Carson Olsen.
Spencer Bell and Cage Newans were unsuccessful in the Broncos’ first two opportunities, which opened the door for Landon Stromme.
Stromme skated in patiently and waited for the top of the net to open up and flicked a wrist shot top shelf over the glove of Maric for a 2-1 shootout victory.
With the victory, the Broncos improved their record to 8-0-1-0 on the season.
They will host the North Stars the following night and look for a weekend sweep over the defending champions.
