CANORA – The Cote Selects kicked off their SEHL postseason on a high note, taking out the Churchbridge Imperials in two straight games by scores of 8-5 on Feb. 6 and 9-3 on Feb. 8, and followed that up with an important 6-3 win over Canora in Game 1 of the quarterfinals on Feb. 11.
Churchbridge Game 1
At the start of Game 1 at the Cote Arena, it looked like Churchbridge might be one their way to grabbing the series lead. The Imperials led 2-0 after the first period, and 4-2 after 40 minutes. But the Selects took over in the final period, outscoring Churchbridge 6-1 to skate away with the all-important Game 1 victory.
Dakota Macintosh scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the way for Cote. Tony Apetagon scored once and added two assists, while Hayden Lacquette and Tristan Keshane each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Eli Halcrow and Kailum Gervais were the other two goal scorers for the winners.
Churchbridge Game 2
Game 2 in Churchbridge saw the Selects get off to a much better start, grabbing a 5-1 lead by the middle of the second period and building on the advantage for the remainder of the game.
With Dakota Macintosh and Valdez Bear unavailable for Cote, Tony Apetagon picked up the slack in a big way with three goals and three assists. Eli Halcrow also scored a hat trick. Other goals came from the sticks of Alex Moar, Kailum Gervais and Tristan Keshane, who also added an assist. Playing key roles in setting up the Selects offence were Hayden Lacquette and Kurtis Luke, with four assists each.
As the seventh seed, Cote moved on to face the second-seeded Canora Cobras in the best-of-three quarterfinal series, with Game 1 in Cote on Feb. 11 because the Canora rink was unavailable.
Canora Game 1
The Selects hosted Canora in Game 1 of the best-of-three quarterfinal series at the Cote Arena. Cote jumped on the Cobras early, taking a 3-1 lead after the first period, and 5-1 after the second.
Tony Apetagon and Kurtis Luke led the Cote offense with two goals and an assist each. The other two goals came from the stick of Tristan Keshane. Dakota Macintosh was the top playmaker with a pair of assists.
For the Cobras, Carter Dereniwsky of Canora and Scott Mickoski of Regina each scored once and added an assist. The other goal scorer was Logan Foster of Grayson.
Cobras Coach Darren Schwarz said the Selects were full marks for the win.
“Give credit to them,” said Schwartz. “They were ready to play. The came right out of the gate fast in the first period and we weren’t ready.
“They’ve added good players and improved every year. Their goaltending is good their forwards are really good. You can’t take them lightly like you maybe could a couple of years ago.”
After not playing since their last regular season game back on Jan. 30, Schwartz said just about every aspect of the Cobras game seemed to be off.
“But this is playoff time. If you’re not ready, you’re done in a hurry. I told our guys, ‘We have to work hard, play the body, be physical, and bring our hard hats to every game. If we don’t, our season could be over in a hurry.’”
Schwartz encourage Canora and area fans to fill up the rink, “and support the guys. It’s an exciting time of year.”
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