Clock strikes midnight on Selects’ “Cinderella” campaign
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| The Stars are going back to the Esso Cup. (Photo courtesy Jason Schneider) |
The Saskatoon Stars offensive firepower proved to be too
much for the Eastman Selects to handle.
The Stars swept a best-of-three Western regional playdown
series between the two clubs 2-0 over the weekend at the T.G. Smith Centre in
Steinbach, Man. The Stars claimed Game 1 on Friday night 7-0 and closed out the
series with a 6-2 victory in Game 2 on Saturday.
With the series victory, the Stars advance to the six-team
Esso Cup national female midget AAA championship tournament to be held April 22
to 28 in Bridgewater, N.S. This will mark the third time over the last four
years the Stars have advanced to the Esso Cup. They won a bronze medal at the
2015 tournament in Red Deer, Alta., and finished fourth at the 2016 tournament
in Weyburn, Sask.
In the series with the Selects, the Stars entered as the
favourites finishing first in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League
with a 24-3-1 regular season record. They advanced through the SFMAAAHL
playoffs win a 6-0 record.
The Selects, who are based out of Ste. Anne, Man., finished
fifth in the seven team Manitoba Female AAA Midget Hockey League with a 13-12-5
record. They proceeded to roll off three upset best-of-five series victories to
capture the MFMHL title for the first time in team history.
In quarter-final series, the Selects swept the Shoal Lake
based Yellowhead Chiefs 3-0, and the Chiefs were 14-10-6 in regular season
play. In a semifinal series, the Selects got past the Winnipeg Avros 3-1, and
the Avros topped the MFMHL standings with a 25-5 record.
In the MFMHL finals, the Selects faced the defending league
champion Pembina Valley Hawks, who are based out of Morden. The Hawks finished
second in the MFMHL with a 20-8-2 record. On the strength of a pair of overtime
victories to close out the series, the Selects prevailed 3-1 to capture the
Manitoba championship.
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| Captain Mackenna Parker scored three goals for the Stars this past weekend. |
Saskatoon received goals from five different players in
their 7-0 victory in Game 1 on Friday. Captain Mackenna Parker and Grace
Shirley each scored twice, while Kaitlin Jockims, Calli Arnold and Jordyn
Gerlitz each netted singles. Jordan Ivanco made 13 saves to pick up the win in
goal for the Stars.
Raygan Kirk stopped 15-of-19 shots fired her way starting in
goal for the Selects before being pulled after the first period. Meagan Relf
turned away 28-of-31 shots playing the rest of the way in relief.
In Saturday’s 6-2 victory by the Stars in Game 2, Anna
Leschyshyn scored twice for Saskatoon, while Jockims, Parker, Kianna Dietz and
Jayda Sachs had singles. Ivanco turned away 17 shots to pick up the win in goal
for the Stars.
Chelsea Dinnin and Samantha Christensen replied with singles
for the Selects. Kirk turned away 39 shots going the distance taking the
setback in goal for the Selects.
The Stars have nine players on their roster remaining from
the team’s 2016 appearance in the Esso Cup including Ivanco, Dana Wood,
Leschyshyn, Parker, Dietz, Shirley, Gerlitz, Joelle Fiala and Jordyn Holmes.
Their experience is expected to be key for the squad going forward.
Besides capturing the Lanchbery Family Trophy as Western
regional playdown series winners, the Stars honoured the Humboldt Broncos of
the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League on Saturday wearing green and gold tape
on their skates and sticks. The junior A Broncos’ team bus was involved in a
tragic accident on Friday with a semi-trailer truck, and 15 people on the bus
died as a result.
Today we play for a chance to represent Saskatchewan at the @HC_EssoCup but we are reminded this is a game that brings us together as 1 #WILL Today we play for the @HumboldtBroncos #SaskProud 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/bxt7cclQ7j— Saskatoon Stars (@StoonStarsAAA) April 7, 2018
The Selects raised $700 for the GoFundMe account to support
the Broncos.
On behalf of the @StoonStarsAAA and the Eastman Selects at the Western Regional Series we are proud to donate $700 to the Humboldt Broncos. Thank you to all who made this possible. #WesternRegionalSeries #PrayersForHumboldt #HockeyIsFamily pic.twitter.com/B8IRGynFyC— Eastman Selects (@Eastmanfemale) April 7, 2018
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to stankssports@gmail.com.
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