A valiant Cranbrook Bucks comeback attempt fell short on a “Wild” Saturday night in Wenatchee.
The Bucks’ woes south of the border continued in a game versus the Wild which went the distance, with the road team taking a single point in a 5-4 shootout loss.
Wenatchee got the jump on the Bucks in first period action, Ean Somoza tallied a power play goal at 5:48 to put the Wild in a 1-0 lead. Cranbrook held the shots edge at 11-10 after the first twenty minutes, but the Wild led 1-0 at intermission.
The Wild were rolling through the first half of the second period, goals from Lucas Marshall and Micah Berger gave them a 3-0 lead at the ten-minute mark. The Bucks got one back from a Markus Yim point shot at 10:19 to cut Wenatchee’s lead to 3-1, but that was followed by Marshall’s second goal of the period to restore the Wild’s three-goal lead at 14:00. Wenatchee held a 4-1 lead at the second intermission, and it appeared the game may had been out of Cranbrook’s reach.
A quick start in the third period pumped new life into the Bucks’ bench, with Bryce Sookro finding the twine just seventeen seconds after the opening faceoff. The Bucks made it a one-goal game at 6:56, a Kellan Hjartarson deflection beat Wenatchee goalie Andy Vlaha to make the score 4-3. With momentum on their side, Cranbrook took advantage of a late power play to get the tying goal, Luke Pfoh scored at 17:48 to even things up at 4-4 and forced overtime.
Neither side was able to settle after five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime, prompting a marathon shootout session for Wenatchee’s Vlaha and Cranbrook goalie Carter Capton. The two clubs went thirteen rounds before Wenatchee’s David Hedjuk potted the winner to give the Wild a 5-4 win, despite Cranbrook’s thrilling comeback attempt.
Saturday’s shootout loss drops Cranbrook’s record to 35-13-1-3, the Bucks have earned points in each of their last six games.
The Bucks return home for their final pair of regular season home games Friday and Saturday versus the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Buck Tracks:
- 3 assists for Noah Quinn, 6 points through last 2 games.
- Bauer Morrissey (1a) extends points streak to 8 games.
- 1st BCHL goal for Markus Yim.
- Final road game of the season, Bucks fail to register a win in Wenatchee (0-1-0-2).
