The Crusaders 9-7 victory over the Camrose Kodiaks was a pivotal moment in the 2017 campaign. They had been struggling to start the second quarter of the season, having only won once in their last six attempts. It wasn’t just in the last six games they’d been cold, either; coming into the Friday clash, the Crusaders record was 6-10-1. The team was struggling to find an identity and were in much need of a victory to boost their confidence.
The game started out strong for the Crusaders who found themselves up 2-1 after 20. They found goals from Ty Readman and rookie forward Arjun Atwal (PP). The first period was tame considering what was to come.
Camrose came flying out of the gates in the second scoring just a minute into the period. The early goal didn’t discourage the Cru though who banged home four more goals before the period was over. The Kodiaks did grab themselves one more too. One of the scorers was Tanner Younghans who was playing his old team for the first time since being traded.
The Cru were the more confident side and looked as if they would cruise to victory.
However, that was not the case.
Much like the second, the Kodiaks hit the ground running scoring a goal only 28 seconds in. It didn’t stop their either, Camrose kept coming and coming at the Crusaders doing everything they could to tie the game up. Just eight minutes into the third period the game was all tied up.
At the 13 minute mark what seemed like a guaranteed win was gone. The Kodiaks top gun, Bryson Traptow, gave his team the lead. In just 13 minutes the Cru had risked blowing it.
Somebody had to step up, and somebody did in a big way as Tanner Younghans took it upon himself to get his team the win. With just three minutes left, Alex Rotundo found Younghans to tie up the game for the Crusaders. Then the drama happened. Searching for his hat-trick with little left on the clock, Younghans sealed the win against his former team with only 20 seconds left on the clock. Rotundo finished the game of with an empty net goal 10 seconds later.
This was a huge victory for the Crusaders. It was an up and down game, the boys had to show that they had the will to win despite blowing the lead. This game really gave the team an identity and from that point on they had a winning record until the seasons end.