The Williams Lake Stampeders put a screeching halt to a two-game losing skid Saturday, knocking off the Omineca Ice, 9-6, in Vanderhoof.
Sunday, playing in their third consecutive road game since Nov. 5, the green and white garnered some payback against the Quesnel Kangaroos (who defeated the Stampeders in Williams Lake, 8-4, on Oct. 22) in a tightly-contested 6-5 win.
“We finally got together a full team,” said Stampeders general manager Don Hanson, who had been unhappy with the team’s away game attendance in recent weeks.
“They played very well. They were both good games and they did the job that they were supposed to do.”
Williams Lake leapt out to a massive 7-2 first-period lead over the Ice Saturday with goals from Wilfred Robbins (2), Matt Lees (2), Corey Sales and Jason Wright; however, just about let it all slip away in the second.
Omineca’s Tyrell Turgeon scored three times in the second, followed by another from teammate Justin Bardarson to help the Ice claw back into the contest.
“We had them down 7-2 and the guys laid back,” Hanson said. “They got a few goals and made a game of it but they ran out of steam.”
The third period was all Williams Lake as Robbins picked up his hat trick goal, along with another marker from Joe Morgan in the 9-6 final.
Sunday, the Stamps served up a plate of revenge against the first-place Quesnel Kangaroos after hammering home five power play goals.
“Our power play was real good,” Hanson said, pointing to the forward combination of Francis Johnson, Wilfred Robbins and newcomer Tyson Hall of Prince George as doing most of the damage with the man advantage. “They paid the price pretty near every time and that line was deadly.”
Scoring for Williams Lake in the win were Lees, Hall (2), Stuart Sasges, Nathan Zurak and Robbins, while Alessio Tomassetti, Joey MacDonald, Rigby Burgart, Shawn Fulton and Nick Tomassetti rounded out the scoring for the ‘Roos.
Following the four-point weekend Williams Lake improves to 5-3-0 on the campaign and leaps ahead of the Omineca Ice for second spot in the Central Interior Hockey League’s East Division. Williams Lake is still eight points back of the Kangaroos (8-1-2).
The Stampeders are now set for a pair of games against the Lac La Hache Tomahawks beginning this Friday at Lac La Hache’s Rolf Zeis Memorial Arena. Puck drop goes at 8:30 p.m.
Then on Saturday, the Stampeders return to the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex for the fourth season meeting between the two clubs. Game time is 7:30 p.m.