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The Battlefords Midget AA Barons came up short with a 2-0 loss to Swift Current at the I-Plex (submitted/Lee Ulmer)
By Brady Lang

Midget AA Barons come up short in provincial final

Apr 4, 2019 | 1:20 PM

It wasn’t the result they were looking for, but the Battlefords Midget AA Barons have nothing to hang their head about.

The team’s season came to an end last night at the hands of the Swift Current AA Broncos, in a one game winner-take-all matchup for the provincial title. The game was back and forth throughout the first and second, with both teams hitting posts and battling for every inch of real estate.

Going into the third, the teams’ seasons were cut from a winner-take-all to 20 minutes with everything on the line. With the scoreboard empty, both goaltenders battled to keep it that way. It took 12 minutes and change, but the Broncos scored the eventual winner off the stick of Matt Christianson to go ahead by one. Swift Current added an empty netter to solidify the win later on, and captured the provincial title 2-0.

Head Coach Lee Ulmer said it was a tough way to end the season, but it mirrored the rest of the three game series.

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“We knew that they’d be making a big push in the first period. We weathered the storm, and some early penalties against us,” he said. “(It’s) a game of inches, and it didn’t go our way.”

Following a wild run to win the league after finishing third in the regular season, many wrote the Barons off. The strong play continued in the playoffs, eventually leading to a 3-1 series win against North East in the final.

The first two games of the series were won by the road teams. The Barons took game one 4-1 in Swift Current and the Broncos countered with a 3-1 victory at the Civic Centre just days later. Both teams were evenly matched, regardless of records coming into the three game series. The bounces didn’t go the Barons way, Ulmer said, or the Barons would be waking up in the same shoes that the Broncos did this morning.

He admitted it was a tough pill to swallow, but said the team did everything in their power to win, and have nothing whatsoever to be disappointed in heading into the offseason.

Ulmer said they would be losing at least six guys, all of who aged out of minor hockey.

“When you’re so close to winning, they’re very emotionally invested in it. They took it tough,” he said. “I was very proud of them. We did all that we could, (there are) no regrets.”

Looking forward, depending on how AAA and junior camps go, Ulmer hopes to be in the same position this time around next year, hopefully with another banner or two to add to the Civic Centre rafters in 2019-20.

GAME SUMMARY

FIRST PERIOD

No scoring

SECOND PERIOD

No scoring

THIRD PERIOD

12:23 Matt Christianson (R. Skarbon, C. Sawchuk) SC 1-0

1:17 Cash Arnsten (UNASSISTED) EMPTY NET 2-0 SC

GOALTENDERS

BATT: Cam Taylor 31 SV, 1 GA- L

SC: Brad Nyen 27 SV, SO- W

–

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangBFN

by Brady Lang

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