The Sylvan Lake Yettis won big Wednesday night when the team hosted the Red Deer Renegades, the top ranked team in the league.
The Renegades have gone undefeated until the Yettis stopped their streak at home on May 30.
This was the second game of the season the Yettis faced off against the Renegades, previously falling 12-7.
It was a fast-paced and aggressive game, with the Yettis triumphing 11-9 in the final period.
One point the team has worked on since the beginning of the season was being aggressive on offence while staying out of the box.
While the Yettis saw the inside of the penalty box eight times over the course of the game, the 16 minutes amassed was nothing compared to the 11 penalties for 39 minutes the Renegades faced.
The dominating presence of the Yettis kicked off in the first period. Though the team was a bit late to the game, by the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the first period the Yettis had made it known, they were there to win.
Tristen Hess started things off with a goal for the Yettis, assisted by Mitch Wilton, with about seven-and-a-half minutes to go in the first period. By this time the Renegades had already scored twice on Yettis goaltender Ethan Hanson.
Though momentarily behind, the Yettis managed to quickly pull ahead by scoring another four goals, the last of which sailed into the net only seconds before the final buzzer of the period rang by Adam Sylvester, assisted by Josh Green and Braydon McLaughlin.
The Yettis were up by two with a score of 5-3 with two periods yet to play.
Once again Hess started the period off with his third goal of the game, assisted by Kien Bowen and Green.
The Yettis picked up a total of three points during the second period, while keeping the Renegades at bay.
With the last period yet to play the Yettis were up 8-4, and it was still anyone’s game.
While the Yettis kept up their tough offence during the third period, scoring three times over the 20 minutes, the team’s defence suffered.
The Renegades came out of the locker room with something to prove, and determined to keep up their perfect record.
The visiting team broke through the Yettis’ defence to score five times over the period.
While the Renegades finished the game with an impressive display, it was too little too late, as the Yetti’s kept their lead.
The final score saw the leader of the pack knocked off it’s pedestal as the Yettis gained ground in the league standings.
The Yettis won 11-9 against the Red Deer Renegades.
The Sylvan Lake Yettis travel to Cranbrook this weekend for back-to-back games. The team’s next home game will be on June 16 against the Calgary Axemen II. The ball drops at the NexSource Centre at 2 p.m. on June 16.
