The Carman Beavers dropped three SEMHL contests in early January, falling to Morden, Warren and Notre Dame despite late offensive pushes in two of the games.
Beavers players exchange high fives after a goal in a 6–3 loss to the Warren Mercs
Carman opened the stretch on Jan. 2, losing 9–6 on the road to the Morden Bombers. The Beavers trailed 7–2 early in the third period before mounting a comeback that included two goals each from Mikol Sartor and Kale Ilchena, along with markers from Duncan Jowett and Scott Atkins. Luke Zacharias started in goal, with Dan Wenham finishing the game, while Reed Peters earned the win for Morden.
The Beavers were back in action Jan. 4, falling 7–3 at Warren against the Warren Mercs. Warren built a five-goal first-period lead and added a powerplay goal in the second. Carman goals came from Carter Halamandaris, AJ Nychuk and Dane Halstead, while Wenham made 25 saves in the loss.
Carman then returned home on Jan. 10, where they were defeated 8–3 by the Notre Dame Hawks. AJ Nychuk opened the scoring for the Beavers late in the first period, while Kale Ilchena and Riley Goertzen added third-period goals. Luke Zacharias faced heavy pressure in net, turning aside 54 shots.
Notre Dame split its own early-January schedule, beginning with a 3–2 overtime win by the Red River Wild on Jan. 3 in Notre Dame. The Hawks forced overtime on a late goal by Jake Carels before Red River ended the game 19 seconds into the extra frame.
The Hawks then travelled to Springfield on Jan. 4, dropping a 4–3 decision to the Springfield Winterhawks. After erasing an early two-goal deficit, Notre Dame surrendered the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and an empty-netter late to seal the result.
Notre Dame rebounded on Jan. 10, earning an 8–3 road victory in Carman, led by multi-point performances from Colton Veloso, Luke Van de Velde and Zander Carels. Christopher Lesage made 26 saves in the win.
In the SEMHL standings, Carman Beavers sit ninth with a 3-9-1 record and seven points after 13 games, having allowed a league-high 93 goals. The Notre Dame Hawks are seventh at 5-4-1 with 11 points through 10 contests and remain in the middle of a tightly packed table. Winkler Flyers lead the league with a 9-2-1 record and 19 points, while Springfield and Red River round out the top three. Warren sits fourth at 7-5, followed by Ile des Chênes, Morden, Portage and Carman.
Both teams return to action on Saturday, Jan. 17, with Carman hosting Springfield at 7:30 p.m. and Notre Dame welcoming Portage for an 8 p.m. puck drop.
