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Weekend sports wrap: Natives fall to Kings; Tigers lose heartbreaker to Sabres in RMFL semifinal

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The following is a complete look-back on what transpired in local sports over the weekend . . .

Natives fall to Kings

The Neepawa Natives lost 5-2 to the Dauphin Kings in Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ Junior Hockey League action on Saturday night.

Mitch Van Teeling and Jesse Bernard scored in the first period to give Dauphin a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The Kings then opened up a 4-0 lead with goals from Michael Sofillas and Brendan McKay before Neepawa finally got on the board as Derrick Brooks scored his first of two tallies on the night at the 11:15 mark of the second period.

Cameron Whyte would score on the power play for the Kings at the 12:27 mark of the period to make the score 5-1 after 40 minutes.

Brooks scored his second of the game at the 5:11 mark of the third on the power play for the Natives, who were outshot 34-19 on the night.

Kings netminder Jeremy Pominville stopped 17 of 19 shots to pick up the win, while Tyson Verhelst turned away 29 of 34 shots between the pipes for Neepawa.

The game was Neepawa's lone contest during the weekend. With the loss, the Natives now sit with a 4-10-3 record.

Here are the rest of the scores from the MJHL over the weekend:

Friday:
Winnipeg 10 OCN 0
Portage 6 Swan Valley 2
Virden 2 Winkler 0

Saturday:
Winnipeg 4 Wayway 3
Selkirk 6 Virden 3
Steinbach 2 Swan Valley 1
Winkler 5 OCN 2

Sunday:
Winnipeg 3 Swan Valley 1
Portage 5 Wayway 3
Virden 3 Selkirk 1
Steinbach 4 OCN 1


Hillis named rookie of the month

Riley Hillis of the Neepawa Natives was named rookie of the month for October. The 18-year-old forward from Winnipeg netted seven goals and two assists for nine points during the month.

Meanwhile, Damien Kulynych of the OCN Blizzard has been named the player of the month. The 20-year-old forward from Calgary recorded 22 points in 11 games with six goals and 16 assists.

Clay Van Diest of the Portage Terriers was named the defenceman of the month. The 19-year-old American import defenceman had three goals and six assists in October.

Lastly, Braeden Ostepchuk of the Selkirk Steelers was named the goaltender of the month. Ostepchuk had seven wins and three losses with a goals against average of 2.10 and a save percentage of .930 and one shutout. 


Wheat Kings close out road trip with wins; Hawryluk with back-to-back hat-tricks

The WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings were able to close out their lengthy west coast road trip with a couple of victories over the weekend.

On Friday night, the Wheat Kings were able to come away with a 6-3 win over the Everett Silvertips, and in the process, snapped a four game losing streak.

Jayce Hawryluk had four points on the night, including a hat-trick for the Wheat Kings, who received a 35 save performance from netminder Jordan Papirny en route to the win.

On Sunday afternoon, the Wheat Kings were able to defeat the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-2.

Hawryluk once again had a huge game for Brandon, netting his second straight hat-trick, helping the Wheat Kings improve to 9-9-0-0 this season.

The Wheat Kings will now return to Brandon where they'll host the Saskatoon Blades on Thursday night.


Tigers fall to Sabres in RMFL semifinal

The Neepawa Tigers dropped a heartbreaker to the Southwest Sabres in a Rural Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ Football League semifinal on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers lost by a single point, falling 22-21 to the Sabres in Souris.

Brenden Cowan had 10 carries for 46 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers, who led 15-13 at halftime. Cody Pasowisty also had a 10 yard touchdown for the Tigers in the loss.

On the defensive side of the ball, Jason Caines had five tackles and two interceptions, while Wyatt Salmon also had five tackles and a fumble recovery.

The Sabres will move on to face Dauphin, who defeated Moosomin 56-25 in the other semifinal.


BU review: Bobcats men's volleyball team falls to 0-2

The Brandon University Bobcats men's volleyball team dropped to 2-2 on the season after dropping both of their games against the No. 1 ranked Alberta Golden Bears over the weekend in Edmonton.

Sam Tuivai had eight and 10 kills respectively for the Bobcats, who dropped a straight sets decision to Alberta on Friday and followed that up with a four set loss on Saturday night.

In women's action, the BU Lady 'Cats went 1-1 over the weekend against Alberta, falling in straight sets on Friday and rebounding with a straight sets win on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in basketball action, both BU squads dropped both of their games at the Healthy Living Centre in Brandon.

The BU men's squad lost 77-50 to the Victoria Vikes on Friday night and followed that up with a tightly-contested 76-74 loss to the UBC Thunderbirds.

The BU women's squad dropped a 83-65 decision to Victoria on Friday and then fell 73-64 to UBC on Saturday.

Both BU basketball teams are 0-2 this season.

 

Tigers finish first at pre-season tourney

The Neepawa Tigers finished first at their Halloween high school pre-season hockey tournament at the Yellowhead Centre.

The Tigers opened the seven team tournament with a 6-1 win over Vincent Massey on Thursday night. Shane Levandosky netted a hat-trick for the Tigers in the win.

On Friday afternoon, four different scorers -- Brett McKinnon, Wyatt Salmon, Bryson Kaye and Preston James -- helped Neepawa defeat the Pembina Valley Tigers 4-1.

On Saturday morning, Neepawa captain Garett Rempel scored twice, helping the Tigers defeat the Portage Trojans 7-1.

In the Tigers last game on Saturday afternoon, Neepawa squeaked out a 3-2 win over the Crocus Plainsmen. Shane Levandosky, Brendan Harris and Bryn Martin scored for the Tigers, who begin their Westman High School Hockey League season on Nov. 8 when they travel to Rivers to take on the Rage. Neepawa's first home game will be Nov. 13 when they host the Minnedosa Chancellors.

 

Robertson falls to Sigurdson

Neepawa's Kelly Robertson lost 4-3 to Bob Sigurdson in the championship final of the Curl Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ senior men's bonspiel in Winnipeg.

Sigurdson stole the winning point in an extra end and has now earned a berth into the senior men's provincial championship, which will be held Feb. 20-24 at the Brandon Curling Club.


Chiefs fall to Thrashers, Cougars

The Yellowhead Chiefs had a rough weekend, dropping both of their games in Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ AAA Midget Hockey League action.

On Saturday, the Chiefs lost 4-2 to the Winnipeg Thrashers. Ashton Anderson and Morgan Geekie scored for the Chiefs in the loss.

On Sunday, the Southwest Cougars edged the Chiefs 5-4 in Souris.

Morgan Geekie had three points on the night for the Chiefs, who now sit with a 4-6-0 record.

For all the scores from around the league over the weekend, click .



Farmers shut out Pilot Mound

The Neepawa Farmers picked up their first win of the season, defeating the Pilot Mound Pilots 6-0 in Tiger Hills Hockey League action.

Lance Nugent and Neil Ernest each scored two goals for the Farmers, who now sit with a 1-2 record this season.

The Farmers next game action is on Saturday when they travel to Carberry to take on the Plainsmen.


Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ wins bronze

Team Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ won a bronze medal at the Western Canada Under-16 Challenge Cup in Calgary.

Brandon product and Wheat Kings prospect Tanner Kaspick scored a hat-trick in Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ's 10-3 win over Saskatchewan in the third place game.

Fellow Wheat Kings prospect Nolan Patrick and Kale Clague were named first-team all-stars.

 

Jets fall to Blackhawks

The Winnipeg Jets lost 5-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks at the MTS Centre on Saturday in NHL action.

Tobias Enstrom scored the lone goal for Winnipeg, who are currently in last place in the Central Division with a 5-8-2 record.

In photo: Neepawa Tigers captain Garett Rempel attempts to drive to the net for a scoring opportunity during their pre-season contest against Pembina Valley at the Yellowhead Centre on Friday afternoon.

Photo by Lanny Stewart