The Pembina Valley Twisters dream season has come to a close after a four-games-to-one defeat in the MMJHL championship series to the St. James Jr. Canucks.
After splitting the first pair of games in the series, the Twisters dropped the final three games to end their season.
On April 9, the Twisters lost 3-2 in overtime on the road in Game 3. Alex Van Deynze and Derek Wiebe scored for Pembina Valley, while Logan Enns stopped 35 shots in goal in the loss.
A few nights later, on April 13, back at home in Morris, the Twisters lost 4-3 in a double overtime heartbreaker. Slade Sotheran scored twice for Pembina Valley, while Derek Wiebe had the other tally. Owen LaRocque stopped 35 shots in net for the loss.
The Twisters’ season ended with a rough 5-1 road loss in Game 5. Sotheran scored the lone goal for Pembina Valley, while Enns stopped 18 shots in the loss.
“I think the difference in the series was that they just capitalized on there chances,” said Twisters’ head coach Braeden Beernaerts. “I felt like we eventually matched them, but it just came down to who could capitalize on a bounce here and there. We’ve had lots of goalposts that didn’t go the way we wanted, and it got frustrating.”
Beernaerts notes how coming up short in the two overtime games was the critical factor in the series for his Twisters’ club.
“The double overtime game was the biggest dagger. We were down 2-1 in the series and had come back from being down 3-0 in the game. Up until the last game of the series, we felt as if we had outplayed them four games in a row. To come short again and to go down 3-1 and back to their barn really took the wind out of our sails.”
Despite the heartbreak, coach Beernaerts is incredibly proud of the 2023-24 Pembina Valley Twisters squad that left everything out on the ice all season long.
“These boys took the reigns and ran with it,” said Beernaerts. “I don’t think many people could say early in the year that we would’ve gone this far. From the thirteen-game win streak to sweeping our way to the finals, there’s lots to be proud of. It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but every player can hold their heads high tomorrow and be proud of the year that happened.”
