Crusaders 10
Bulldogs 3
The Blackfalds Bulldogs are facing elimination after a 10-3 loss to the Sherwood Park Crusaders on Tuesday night.
The Crusaders now lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) Alberta Division Semifinals.
Ryan Zaremba and Logan Hauer led the way offensively for the Crusaders with three points each followed by a solid night in net from Erick Roest who made 28 saves.
The Crusaders jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from Ryder Ringor and Adam Raesler. Ringor found the back of the net just 3:03 into the game off the pass from Cade Christenson followed by Raesler from Cameron Caron nearly a minute and a half later.
The Bulldogs got on the board 37 seconds later scored by forward Alexander Dimitriadis on the rebound. Dimitriadis whacked at the puck a few times before knocking it in off a rebound from a Luke Dahlen shot.
In the second period, the Crusaders kept their foot on the gas pedal.
Sherwood Park’s Logan Hauer found the back of the net just two minutes into the frame.
That led to a goalie change for the Bulldogs who replaced Gabe Gratton with Sam Caulfield. Gratton made just eight saves on 11 shots and Caulfield made 18 saves on 25 shots.
Bulldogs defenceman Tanner Willick answered back 45 seconds later to cut into the lead but the rest of the period was owned by the Crusaders.
Crusaders Ethan Merner scored at the midway point followed by a powerplay goal from Kale Dach just over four minutes later.
Sherwood Park powered home five more unanswered goals in the third period to seal the deal with the victory.
Nick Wellenreiter scored over three minutes into the period followed by back-to-back powerplay goals from Ryan Zaremba and Kale Dach.
Zac Maxwell and Connor Frost each added one more to hit the double-digit goal mark for the evening.
In the dying seconds of the game, Bulldogs Brendan Ross scored his first of the playoffs to try and stop the bleeding.
Next up, the Bulldogs will fight to keep their season alive and avoid the sweep on Wednesday night at the Eagle Builders Centre at 7 p.m.
