Taggs pricked by Thistles

Despite a spirited comeback, the local Taggs Source for Sports Bantam ‘AA’ hockey team could not overcome an early two-goal deficit en route to a 6-3 loss to the Kenora Thistles in the ‘B’ semi-finals of their home tournament.
After the game, Taggs coach Larry Beck praised his team for the effort they displayed in their comeback bid.
“I thought overall we played pretty well,” he remarked. “We worked hard. We had a little bit of trouble scoring and that probably caught us in the end, but we never quit and that’s the important thing.”
Beck was forced to watch the end of the game from the stands after being thrown out midway through the second period.
He became embroiled in a heated exchange with the referee concerning the number of calls that were going against his team. Beck initially was assessed a bench penalty but when he continued the argument, he was asked to leave.
“There’s no consistency amongst the referees,” Beck said afterwards of the incident. “One guy lets it go and the next guy, he calls everything.”
Here’s a recap of Taggs’ action from the weekend:
< *c>Taggs vs.
< *c>Kenora Thistles
Taggs found themselves down a goal to the Kenora Thistles just 19 seconds into their ‘B’ semi-final Saturday night.
Thistles’ forwards Vince Joliecoeur and Brennen Dubchak broke in on a two-on-one rush. Taggs goalie Brady Caul made the initial save, but could not stop Gavin Konoski—who was trailing the play—from burying the rebound.
Kenora added to their lead less than two minutes later when Jarred Snyder took a pass from Robbie Burns, circled the Taggs net, and stuffed in a wrap-around to make it 2-0.
Taggs would have faced a larger deficit at the end of the first period had it not been for some clutch goaltending by Caul, who made several spectacular saves to keep his team in the game.
Kenora appeared poised to increase their lead early in the second period after Taggs were whistled for a series of penalties. But it was the Fort Frances squad that would score while short-handed.
Ben Bruyere scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone, split the Kenora defence, and fired a shot on goal.
Kenora’s goalie made the initial save, but could not corral the rebound, which found its way onto David Chambers’ stick, who one-timed the puck past the sprawling netminder to cut the lead to 2-1.
The euphoria was short-lived, however, as a steady stream of Taggs players were sent to the box for a variety of infractions. And the visitors eventually took advantage of by scoring a pair of power-play markers late in the period.
Sean Creed lost control of the puck on a wraparound attempt, but Snyder was in the perfect position to tap it past Caul for the Thistles’ third goal.
Steve Halverson then scored less then a minute later, pouncing on a rebound and sliding it past Caul to give Kenora a three-goal advantage heading into the third period.
The Thistles then got into some penalty trouble of their own early in the third period—and Taggs wasted little time capitalizing on the power play.
Devin Ball’s shot was stopped and the puck sat in the crease for several seconds as both teams battled to recover it.
Taggs’ forward Brendan Cawston finally was able to get his stick on the puck and shovelled it into the net to make it 4-2.
Steve Romaniuk drew the second assist on the play.
That goal re-energized Taggs and they attacked the Kenora net in waves over the next several minutes.
Their hard work paid off when, with 4:10 to go, a Cam Badiuk pass sent Bruyere and Ball in on a two-on-one.
Bruyere drew the Kenora goalie to him and then feathered a backhand pass onto Ball’s stick, who made the most of the opportunity—firing the puck into the open cage to cut Kenora’s lead to one.
With time running out, Taggs pulled their goalie in favour of the extra attacker.
The gamble did not pay off, however, as Joliecoeur was sent in on a breakaway moments later. The empty-net goal sealed the victory for Kenora.
Taggs’ frustration boiled over following the ensuing face-off when Chambers and Bruyere got into a tussle with Kenora’s Creed and Dustin Boucha.
All four players were assessed double-minors for roughing and sent to their respective dressing rooms.
The Thistles then added a late goal by Matt Austin to round out the scoring.
< *c>Taggs vs.
< *c>Neebing Hawks
Taggs jumped out to a quick two-goal lead in their opening round-robin game Friday afternoon.
David Chambers put the host team up 1-0 at 12:36 of the first period, assisted by Ben Bruyere and Shane Beck.
Matt Goldamer added to the lead 30 seconds later after taking a pass Brendan Cawston to make it 2-0.
The Hawks got on the board late in the first courtesy of a Cullen Merrit marker, then tied the game early in the second period on a Jordan Spavor goal.
Taggs regained the lead less than two minutes later when Steve Romaniuk scored an unassisted goal.
However, the Hawks added a pair of goals from Robin Fielder before the end of the period and took a 4-3 lead into the third.
Hawks’ defenceman Ryan Marion and Bruyere exchanged goals in the final period as Neebing skated to the 5-4 victory.
Shane Beck was credited with the assist on Bruyere’s goal.
< *c>Taggs vs.
< *c>Winnipeg Twins
Taggs fell behind 1-0 to the Twins just 11 seconds into their second round-robin match-up when Matthew Wilson tallied an unassisted goal.
The Winnipeg lead did not last for long, however, as Matt Goldamer scored an unassisted goal of his own minutes later to level the score at one.
The back-and-forth tussle continued as Brett Pile scored for the Twins with less than a minute remaining in the period to put his team up 2-1.
His team trailing by a goal, Ben Bruyere took matters into his own hands, scoring once in the second period—assisted by Brendan Cawston—and then twice more in the third for the hat trick.
Winnipeg’s Jordy Howes scored a late goal for the Twins but it was not enough as Taggs earned the 4-3 victory.
< *c>Taggs vs.
< *c>International Falls
D.J. Bombay opened the scoring in Taggs’ final round-robin game against International Falls at 8:50 of the first period.
Devin Ball drew the assist.
The lead was short-lived, however, as International Falls got a goal from Blake Museta to tie the game before the end of the period.
International Falls dominated the second period, getting goals from Zach Severson and Museta to lead 3-1 after two periods.
Matt Goldamer cut the deficit to one early in the third period on a pass from Ben Bruyere.
But late goals from Willie Corrin and Museta—his third of the afternoon—gave International Falls the 5-2 victory, relegating Taggs’ to the ‘B’ semi-finals.