The Warren Mercs couldn’t keep pace with the Red River Wild in South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League action on Sunday, falling 8–4 in a wide-open contest that featured five power-play goals and a four-goal performance from Red River’s Jonah Wasylak.
Red River opened the scoring at 13:42 of the first period on a power-play marker from Justin Baudry, but the Mercs responded quickly. Patrick D’Amico tied the game at 17:12 with a power-play goal set up by Gianluca Esteves and Johnny Lazo, and just over a minute later Kaden Stewart gave Warren a 2–1 lead with assists from D’Amico and Brenden Luschinski.
The Wild surged ahead in the second, scoring three times — including two from Wasylak — to take a 4–2 advantage. Red River added a third straight goal at 15:34 before Warren stopped the run at 16:11, when Mason Waite finished a play from Brett Brooks and Drake Lindsay to cut the deficit to 4–3. But the Wild restored their two-goal cushion in the final minute thanks to Teagan Fillion’s eventual game-winner.
Red River struck twice in seven seconds early in the third to put the game out of reach. Wasylak completed his hat trick at 4:57 and later added a shorthanded goal at 12:05 for a four-goal outing. Warren’s final marker came on the power play at 13:43, when Drake Lindsay scored from Waite and Stephen Kleysen.
Mercs goaltender Evan Baty made 29 saves in the loss, while Red River’s Jayden Catellier turned aside 27 shots for the win. Warren finished 2-for-6 on the power play; Red River went 1-for-2.
The Mercs return to action Friday, Nov. 28 when they travel to Carman for an 8 p.m. matchup.
