Blackfalds Wranglers head coach Sean Neumeier didn't pull any punches when describing his team's 4-1 loss to the Stettler Lightning yesterday.

“We were god-awful tonight. We were horrible,” Neumeier said.

Throughout the evening, the Lightning forecheck disrupted Blackfalds’ attempts to break out of its own end.

“They carried the play, they outworked us, in every area,” Neumeier said. “That’s what’s going to happen. They’re going to beat you 4-1. Are we the better team? A hundred per cent. But they were tonight. They outworked us everywhere. Everywhere tonight.”

After Stettler took a 2-0 lead in the first period, Wranglers defenceman Shawn Rowe scored Blackfalds’ lone goal in the second frame, blasting home a point shot while on a two-man advantage.

A hot start to the season had Blackfalds in the conversation about chasing the division lead. The teams they’re chasing -- Red Deer and Airdrie -- kept winning. The Wranglers did not.

Now, they cling to a two-point lead over Mountainview for third place in the HJHL North.

“If we didn’t get off to that good start, I don’t know where we’d be,” Neumeier said. “We’ve got to start being dedicated, coming to practice, putting in work. We’re not putting in any work. We’re just not all on the same page right now. And we’ll be scary if we get on the same page but until we do, this is what’s going to happen.”

Their next game is on Tuesday at home versus the Red Deer Vipers, who blew the team out 7-0 at the Collicutt Centre on Jan. 6.