The Nipawin Hawks welcomed the Yorkton Terriers to town on Friday night in a high-scoring contest that saw the visitors come away with a 7–5 victory.
The Hawks opened the scoring early in the first period with a power-play goal from #4 Braeden Jockims (5), assisted by #20 Raydr Wallington (10) and #34 Konnor Watson (12). Nipawin continued to press and added a second goal when captain #11 Finley Radloff (9) finished a play from #10 Will Whitter (16) and #14 Mason Lowther (5).
The Hawks weren’t done there. Their third goal also came on the power play, with #18 Jack Janzen (10) scoring from #34 Konnor Watson (13) and #4 Braeden Jockims (6). Nipawin made it 4–1 later in the frame with another power-play marker, this time from #14 Mason Lowther (4), assisted by captain #11 Finley Radloff and #28 Sean Shiels (5). Yorkton’s lone goal of the period came from Leonard.
The second period belonged to the Terriers, who stormed back with four goals. Leonard completed his hat trick in the frame, while Vallance and Horbachewsky also found the back of the net to give Yorkton the lead heading into the third.
In the final frame, the Hawks tried to claw their way back when #7 Eric Hoiness scored, assisted by #23 Carter Cole (10) and #20 Raydr Wallington (11). However, Yorkton sealed the game with a goal from McDonald to bring the final score to 7–5 for the Terriers.
Shots on goal favoured the Hawks 40–35, but it was not enough on this night. The loss drops Nipawin to third overall in the league standings.
The Hawks will look to bounce back as they return to The Cage on the 20th for a 7:00 PM puck drop when they welcome the Melville Millionaires.
