The Battlefords North Stars will take on the Yorkton Terriers in Round 2 of the SJHL playoffs.

By Martin Martinson

persistence pays off

Stars and Terriers show resiliency on route to round two

Mar 27, 2019 | 3:55 PM

Coming off a 4-1 win Tuesday in game seven of their first round playoff series with the Flin Flon Bombers, the Battlefords North Stars are moving on to the league semifinals where they will play the Yorkton Terriers.

Yorkton is coming off a game seven win of their own Tuesday, getting the better of the top-seeded Nipawin Hawks 4-3 at Centennial Arena in Nipawin.

Both the North Stars and Terriers have proven this postseason their ability to hold strong in the face of adversity, and bring their best with the game on the line.

Following three-straight victories by the Stars to open their series with the Bombers, Flin Flon came back to knot things up and force a seventh game back in the Battlefords with the series on the line.

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Rather than letting the pressure get to them, the Stars came out flying in the seventh game, scoring just five minutes into the first, and adding another two before the end of the period, en route to a 4-1 win.

Yorkton meanwhile, much like the Stars, have not only handled adversity but thrived under pressure, as the team already faced elimination a couple of times.

The Terriers made the postseason as the eighth seed by season’s end, booking a date with the Notre Dame Hounds in the Survivor Series.

A best-of-three play-in to the playoffs, after alternating wins through the first two games, the Terriers returned home for the winner-take-all game three, taking the contest by a slim 5-4 margin, to solidify their spot in the quarter-finals against the top-seeded, defending champion, Nipawin Hawks.

The Hawks finished 18 points ahead of the Terriers in the standings, and after a 3-0 Nipawin win in game one, it appeared as though it may be a short series. Quite the opposite was true, as the Terriers came away with victories in games two-through-four to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

After Nipawin came back to force a game seven at home, Yorkton again came up large in an elimination game with the season at stake to pull out a 4-3 win.

The Stars, who finished in top spot of the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division with 80 points, scored the fourth most goals this season with 213. Yorkton, who were second in the Viterra Division with 63 points, scored 242, good for most in the league.

The two sides combined for 38 goals over the four games head-to-head, in a season-series that saw the Battlefords post a 3-1 record against Yorkton.

The North Stars will welcome the Terriers to town for game one of their semifinal matchup Friday at the Civic Centre. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on 1050 CJNB.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1