Lesleigh Campbell | Special to the Fitzhugh
The U15 Jasper Bearcats went on the road this past weekend to play against the Drayton Valley Thunder and the CR Knights.
Their first stop was on Saturday in Drayton Valley. This was the first time the Bearcats had faced the Thunder since the preseason, and it was redemption time.
The first period was 4-1 in Jasper's favour, with Carson Miller and Casey Peel each getting a goal, and Drew Kovacs with a pair. While Drayton Valley was only able to get past Brady "Soupy" Campbell once.
The second period was more of a barn burner with the Thunder coming out strong and netting their second goal right away. Kovacs answered that goal with one of his own, followed by Jackson Irwin finding the back of the net himself. Drayton Valley fought back and managed to get two more, only for Irwin to get another. Carson Campbell then got his first goal of the game, answered by the Thunder for a total of four goals for each team. The score was 8-5 after 40 minutes.
The third period was a little quieter with Drayton Valley only sneaking one more past Soupy, while Kovacs and Campbell each got one more to seal the deal 10-6 for Jasper. The Bearcats redeemed themselves indeed.
After an evening of festive celebrations at the hotel, the Bearcats were off to Riviere Qui Barre to face off against the CR Knights.
There's no other way to put it... this game was a total blowout. The first period got started with Irwin finding the back of the net after a beauty pass from Dustin Derksen. A few minutes later, Irwin scored again with Kovacs and Miller offering the helpers. Campbell got a goal sooner after, and Kovacs ended the period with a pair of his own.
The second period was more of the same, starting with Campbell getting Jasper's sixth goal, assisted by Kovacs and Miller. Peel then scored lucky number seven, and the period ended 7-0 with Soupy keeping the door shut.
The third period began with Campbell getting his hat-trick goal, followed by Kovacs doing the same. And just when it was starting to look like Soupy was going to get a shutout, the Knights finally got one past him. Kovacs answered that with another Bearcat goal, followed by Irwin getting his hat-trick. Irwin then found the back of the net one more time, and Peel finished the scoring off with some help from Lincoln Radloff. And there you have a 13-1 blowout.
After a successful weekend on the road, the Jasper Bearcats will take two weeks off to enjoy the holidays. Their next games will be Saturday, Jan. 7 in Edson and Sunday, Jan. 8 in Hinton. Happy Holidays to all of the Bearcats fans and supporters!
