The Pembina Valley Twisters have advanced to the MMJHL semi-finals after a four-game sweep of the Raiders Jr. Hockey Club in the first round of the playoffs.
Following their strong performance in the first two games, the Twisters extended their series lead by defeating the Raiders 4-0 on March 12. Merek Degraeve was a standout for the team, scoring two goals, while Josh Guilford and Mark Plett also contributed to the victory. Goaltender Owen LaRocque stopped 21 shots for the shutout.
The Twisters sealed the series in Game 4 on March 15 with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Raiders. Brett Bergman and Slade Sotheran each found the back of the net. LaRocque started in net and made 6 saves. Enns was brought in to finish the game at the start of the second period making 13 saves to secure the win.
“It’s always great to advance rounds,” said Twisters’ head coach Braeden Beernaerts. “It was a tough series despite being over in four games, as many games could’ve gone either way. We were happy to get the bounces, and score timely goals.”
“Our team’s play has been great so far and we focused down on the little things from the start of playoffs. Despite a few moments in the games where emotions and fatigue had taken over, for the most part we stuck with it, and claimed the series.”
The Twisters will now have some time off as they await the results of the other MMJHL quarterfinal series’ and see who they will matchup with in the semi-finals.
“The plan for the next few days is to keep the legs under us, as we can’t get too complacent about what we’ve accomplished so far,” said Beernaerts. “We plan to sharpen up on a few things, review our next opponent, and make sure we are ready for the next round.”
Standard Photos by Lana Meier
The Co-author: Sean Conway
