Atley Calvert Breaks Record In Tough Warriors Win

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Things were looking a bit dicey for the Moose Jaw Warriors lately; they went on a terrible slump after losing four of their regular players, indefinitely.

But in their last appearance they came out with great energy and put a hurting on the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Hoping to keep the successes coming they entered the Moose Jaw Events Centre, on Friday evening, for the first match in a home-and-away weekend with the visiting Swift Current Broncos.

The Broncos too were struggling. They’d lost four straight games and were looking to get to the shell-shocked Warriors to get back on track.

Spoiler: It wasn’t their night.

In a rare occurrence, Tate Schofer scored the opening goal to get the action started.

With assists from Bobzilla Baco and Cosmo Wilson, the goal was only Schaefer’s third of the season; it came when he knocked in a rebound that clinked off the Broncos goal post.

Tate Schofer scored the opening goal - photo credit Elite Prospects Twitter

The first period was very tight but Jackson Unger made all the saves he needed to and the club went to the locker room with a one goal lead.

The Broncos have a star defenceman on their roster who goes by the name of Owen Pickering.

Pickering was a first round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been giving WHL teams fits all season.

Pickering worked his magic and set up Caleb Wyrostok for the equalizer early in the second frame.

Owen Pickering is always dangerous - photo credit Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Shortly after that, Martin Rysavy intercepted a pass from a retreating Bronco defender and converted it into a goal, the goal was Rysavy’s eighth of the campaign and his second in consecutive games.

Martin Rysavy scored for the second straight game - photo credit Elite Prospects Twitter

The lead didn’t last long though, in the 11th minute Brady Birnie scored his 15th to help Speedy Creek tie the score.

But before the end of the period, old reliable Atley Calvert netted his team-leading 34th goal of the season.

That goal means he has now surpassed David Bararuk’s longstanding record for Most Warriors Goals Scored by a Moose Jaw-born Player.

Atley Calvert’s goal was one for the record books - photo credit Twitter

Despite being badly outshot in the period, the Warriors were able to maintain the lead heading into the third period.

The teams split goals, early in Period 3.

First it was Ryder Korczak scooping up a failed clearing attempt and scoring then after that it was the Sharks’ Josh Filmon scoring his 35th. 35 is a lot of goals.

Filmon is just ahead of Calvert on the league leader list, he’s sixth overall.

Josh Filmon scores a ton of goals - photo credit Elite Prospects

Both Atley Calvert and Josh Filmon are in the Top 10 in the league for Goals Scored.

However, they’ve got some work to put in if they think they’re passing Connor Bedard.

WHL League Leaders in Goals Scored

Swift Current threw everything they had at the Warriors but were unable to put a tying goal past Jackson Unger, who saved 36 shots, and Moose Jaw held on for a close victory over a tough division rival.

Final Score - Warriors 4 Broncos 3

Atley Calvert was named First Star of the Game, Filmon and Korczak were Second and Third.

The tribe will look for a third straight tomorrow night when they head to Swift Current to take on the Lake Diefenbaker Slough Sharks.

Seriously; Swift Current is re-branding for one night only. They’re auctioning off these jerseys for anyone interested.