BY DALLAS SMITH

LEDUC, Alberta - The first game of Friday, featured two teams left out of the Crossover action on Thursday, as both the Langley Warriors and the Saskatchewan Brewers finished last in their respective divisions. The 1:30 game found both teams attempting to stay out of eighth place in the tournament and claim the seventh spot. After losing back-to-back games against the Native Sons and the Thunderbirds, the Warriors sought to finish the tournament on a strong note. Conversely, the Brewers continued to fight for their first victory in the tournament.

The Warriors opened up the first period with a goal in the first minute of play by Josh Joesph. Six minutes later, Chris Martin put the Warriors up two, as the Brewers attempted to regroup defensively. As the period approached its half-way mark, the Brewers Jason Procyshyn cut the lead in half, a few minutes later, consecutive goals from Steven Toporowski and another from Procyshyn put the Brewers ahead for the first time in the game. However, the lead was short-lived after an outside shot from Mike Berekoff found the back of the net to tie the game at three. The two teams exchanged goals at the end of the period making the score 4-4 after twenty minutes. 

An early second period goal by Konner Siemens put the Brewers up by one just over a minute into the second period. The slowly paced second period saw the Brewers score again near the half-way point, followed by a Warriors goal to bring them within one going into the third. The 7-6 lead after forty minutes was the first game in which the Brewers found themselves leading going into the third period. 

Early into the third, the Brewers were able to re-extend their lead to two after Frank Davalos scored his second of the game. Despite the early goal, both teams were unable to score in the next ten minutes. Josh Joseph broke the scoring drought and scored two consecutive goals to tie the game at 8-8. Tied at 8-8, the teams would head into a ten minute overtime period for seventh place. 

The overtime period was not sudden death, yet a missed assignment led to another Mike Berekoff goal, putting the Warriors up 9-8. Briefly after, Geordie Wells would stretch the Warriors lead to two. As the Brewers defence began to fade, the Warriors would add a third goal in the overtime period. Despite a Brewers goal, the Warriors would maintain a three-goal overtime lead to win 12-9 and claim seventh place in the tournament. The Warriors victory held the Brewers winless in their first President’s Cup tournament in forty years.