The Mission City Outlaws dropped a tight decision to the Langley Trappers on Saturday night (Sept. 21) before falling to the Chilliwack Jets on Sunday (Sept. 22).
At the Mission Leisure Centre, the Outlaws fought back in the final 40 minutes but dropped a close 3-2 contest to the Trappers.
Langley controlled the first period, outshooting Mission 19-4. Avraham Brown opened the scoring for the Trappers in the second minute before Ronan Coopman and Lucas Wood extended the lead to 3-0 heading into the locker room.
However, the Outlaws bounced back in the second an edged the Trappers in shots 17-15. Max Wingrove potted his first of the season for Mission midway through the period with assists to Peter Butler and Kian Khakbaznejad.
Mission outshot Langley again in the third and Cooper Crowe made it a one-goal game with less than five minutes remaining.
Langley closed it out with goaltender Joshua Dubreuil stopping 32 shots on his way to the win. Jake Poblete turned aside 39 shots after getting the start for Mission.
“We fell behind 3-0 after the first period, but we showed resilience battling back in the second and third creating multiple good scoring chances before ultimately falling 3-2,” Outlaws’ head coach Derek Doucette said.
The Outlaws shifted their focus to another game on Sunday against Chilliwack at Sardis Sports Complex.
Samuel Gerbrabd potted the opening goal for Mission early in the first period, but Matteo Marini netted the equalizer on a power play roughly five minutes later.
Easton Green and Kaelab Huibers pushed the Jets in front 3-1 before Sam Takahashi scored for Mission to close the first.
From there, Chilliwack scored five unanswered goals to clinch a 7-2 victory.
Doucette says the Outlaws started the game well but began to collapse once the Jets tied it.
“We are a young team and we need to develop our confidence so that one goal against doesn’t derail us,” Doucette said.
The Outlaws sit sixth in the Harold Brittain Conference standings at 0-5. Mission will head to Port Coquitlam on Friday (Sept. 27) for another matchup with the Trailblazers.
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too,” Mission assistant captain Cade Peden said.
On Saturday (Sept. 28), the ‘Laws return to Mission Leisure Centre for a meeting with the Abbotsford Pilots at 6:45 p.m.
