Champs again! - Stars capture third SFMAAAHL title with sweep

Stars captain Mackenna Parker, right, raises the Fedoruk Cup.

    The Saskatoon Stars weren’t going to be denied in their quest to recapture the Fedoruk Cup.

    A year ago, the Stars were swept away 3-0 by the Prince Albert Northern Bears in the best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League Championships Series, which the Stars had won in 2015 and 2016. This year, the Stars returned the favour.

    On Tuesday night at the Agriplace Arena, the Stars scored twice late in the first period of Game 3 of the SFMAAAHL title series to erase an early 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead on the Bears. 

    Saskatoon held on over the next two frames to cement that 2-1 score as the final outcome for Game 3 to sweep the series 3-0 to claim the SFMAAAHL championship banner and the Fedoruk Cup.

The Stars celebrate winning the SFMAAAHL title and the Fedoruk Cup.

    “It feels amazing,” said Stars captain Mackenna Parker. “I have been waiting for it for two years now.

    “Finally, we came together and did it. It is so exciting.”

    For a lengthy stretch of the opening frame, it appeared the Bears were going to force the series to go to a Game 4. They took a 1-0 lead on a well-executed power-play goal at the 5:25 mark of the first.

    Bears physical defender Jordan Ashe passed the puck from the point down to the Jadyn Kushniruk at the right side of the Saskatoon goal. Kushniruk passed the puck across front of the Saskatoon net to skilled centre Kate Ball, who tucked home the opening tally of the contest.

Kate Ball scored to give the Bears an early lead.

    Stars netminder Arden Kliewer had to make a number of big stops to keep the Bears from extending their advantage, which included turning away Ball on a backdoor opportunity later in the frame.

    With 2:58 remaining in the first, Stars forward Kaitlin Jockims took a pass from Anna Leschyshyn to pot the equalizer to tie things up at 1-1.

    Parker proceeded to net the series winner with 12.5 seconds to play in the first period, when she swooped across the front of the Prince Albert goal and tucked home a backhand shot between the legs of Bears netminder Ryan Fontaine. Leschyshyn picked up an assist on that tally as well.

    “I didn’t know if it was going to go through or not, but it did,” said Parker. “It just ended up going five-hole.”

    After 20 minutes, the shots on goal were even at 14-14 thanks to the Stars push in the final three minutes of the frame. Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian said the two goals his side scored at the end of the first was the turning point of Game 3.

Kaitlin Jockims had the equalizer for the Stars on Tuesday night.

    “P.A. came out hard,” said Slobodzian. “We knew they were going to come out hard. You have a team like that which plays hard all the time and then you back them into a corner, they really sent it.

    “We weathered the storm. As soon as we scored those two goals, I was like to play that hard and come out down one goal that is sort of disheartening. They continued to push for sure, but they didn’t have the same jump that they had.”

    The Stars carried play for much of the second period outshooting the Bears 13-5. Netminder Ryan Fontaine made a number of big saves for the Bears to ensure the Stars didn’t get any further ahead on the scoreboard.

    In the third, Bears captain Hannah Koroll likely had the best chance to net the equalizer for her side firing a hard mid-range drive on goal in the second half of the frame, but Kliewer turned away the shot. Outside of Koroll’s opportunity, Saskatoon clamped things down defensively to close out the victory.

Captain Mackenna Parker celebrates her series winning goal for the Stars.

    “It is awesome,” said Jockims of the win. “It is a great feeling to share with all my friends and family.”

    Kliewer made 25 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Fontaine turned away 33 shots to take the setback in the Bears net.

    In Game 2 in Prince Albert on Sunday, Kliewer had a huge outing turning away 30 shots to back the Stars to a 4-2 win. After experiencing what it was like to be swept out of the SFMAAAHL title series a year ago by the Bears in her rookie campaign with the Stars, Kliewer was pumped to be on the winning side this time around as second-year player.

    “It feels great to comeback this year and sweep them the same as they did to us last year,” said Kliewer. “It is an amazing feeling.”

Goalie Ryan Fontaine makes one of her 33 saves for the Bears.

    As for her play in net, Kliewer said she was riding a good vibe.

    “I was just feeling the puck having a good game,” said Kliewer. “I had a good team in front of me. I was just feeling it.”

    Tuesday’s victory marked the third time in four years the Stars captured the SFMAAAHL championship. Parker along with forwards Kianna Dietz, Jordyn Gerlitz and Jordyn Holmes played for the Stars in all three league championship seasons.

    This year’s league championship series had been pegged as another big showdown as the Stars finished first in the SFMAAAHL regular season with a 24-3-1 record, while the Bears were second with a 22-5-1 mark.

Goalie Arden Kliewer makes one of her 25 stops in goal for the Stars.

    Slobodzian said the run by his team has been a remarkable one.

    “I’ve always said I have been blessed with really, really good athletes who are eager to get better and want to play the right way,” said Slobodzian. “These are the outcomes that you get.

    “I’m just happy for them. We work those girls so hard in practice, and they are so committed in their dryland. To get rewarded for all that work, it means a lot.”

    The Stars now advance to play in a best-of-three female midget AAA Western regional playdown series versus the Manitoba female midget AAA champion.

Jordyn Holmes, left, and Jordyn Gerlitz enjoy the Fedoruk Cup.

    The best-of-five Manitoba championship series is still going on as the Eastman Selects, who are based in Ste. Anne, have a 2-1 edge in the set on the defending champion Pembina Valley Hawks, who are based in Morden. The latest that series is slated to go on is Friday.

    The winner of the Manitoba championship series will host the Stars for the entire Wester regional playdown series.

    “Everyone on this team gets along so well,” said Jockims. “It is just awesome to have a couple of more weeks together.”

    The club that takes the playdown series advances to the Esso Cup national female midget AAA championship tournament, which runs April 22 to 28 in Bridgewater, N.S.

The Stars celebrate their third SFMAAAHL title in four years.

    Parker, Dietz, Gerlitz and Holmes are all playing out their final campaign of midget AAA eligibility along with defender Dana Wood and netminder Jordan Ivanco. The Stars captain was happy that her team’s season will continue in April.

    “I don’t have to worry about hockey being done,” said Parker. “We can just keep going.

    “I don’t want leave that great group of girls that we have here.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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