Stars advance to SFMAAAHL final for fifth straight year

Saskatoon eliminates Notre Dame with 3-1 win in Game 4

Joelle Fiala scored the winning goal for the Stars on Thursday.

    A slight scare ultimately couldn’t keep the Saskatoon Stars from returning to the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League championship series for a fifth straight year.

    On Thursday at the Duncan McNeill Arena in Wilcox, the Stars fell behind 1-0 to the host Notre Dame Hounds before rallying for a 3-1 victory in Game 4 of a SFMAAAHL semifinal series. With the win, the Stars take the best-of-five series 3-1.

    Saskatoon advances to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series to play for the Fedoruk Cup for a fifth straight year. The Stars won the league title in 2015, 2016 and last season.

    They will face the Regina Rebels in this year’s league final. Saskatoon topped the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 27-1 record, while Regina finished second with a 17-7-4 mark. Game 1 of the SFMAAAHL final is set for Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    The Stars were forced to play a Game 4 of their semifinal series against the Hounds on Thursday after Notre Dame prevailed 2-1 in double overtime in Game 3 on Tuesday at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon.

    Notre Dame hit the scoreboard first in Game 4 when 16-year-old defender Jada Livingston scored at the 10:21 mark of the first period to give the host side a 1-0 edge.

Kaitlyn Ross made 25 saves in goal for the Hounds on Thursday.

    Coming out after the first intermission, the Stars proceeded to control play the rest of the way.

    At the 3:58 mark of the second, Stars 15-year-old sophomore forward Makena Kushniruk potted the equalizer that forced a 1-1 tie.

    Veteran centre Joelle Fiala netted what would be the game and series winner for the Stars just over four minutes after Kushniruk’s tally to put Saskatoon ahead 2-1.

    Veteran forward Anna Leschyshyn added a key insurance marker at the 9:27 mark of the third to round out the 3-1 victory for the visitors.

    Arden Kliewer made 12 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Kaitlyn Ross turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds in the final outing of her stellar midget AAA career.

    Notre Dame finished fifth in the SFMAAAHL with a 12-13-3 regular season record and eliminated the Prince Albert Northern Bears 3-1 in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series.

    Last season, the Stars swept the Bears 3-0 in the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series. Saskatoon will be making a record eighth overall appearance in the league final.

Bohlken’s OT winner pushes Rebels into SFMAAAHL final

Larissa Bohlken scored the OT winner for the Rebels.

    Larissa Bohlken found some magic in overtime to become a playoff hero for the Regina Rebels.

    On Wednesday at the Fairview Arena in Swift Current, Bohlken, who is a sophomore defender, scored the winner at the 4:13 mark of overtime to give her Rebels a 3-2 victory over the host Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in Game 4 of a SFMAAAHL semifinal series. With the win, the Rebels take the best-of-five series 3-1.

    Regina advances to the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series to play for the Fedoruk Cup for the first time since 2014. The Rebels fell in that year’s league final to the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings, who advanced on to win the Esso Cup as national female midget AAA hockey champions.

    Regina won the SFMAAAHL championship in the 2012-13 season and advanced to the Esso Cup national championship tournament finishing fourth.

    The Rebels will face the defending SFMAAAHL champion Saskatoon Stars in the best-of-five SFMAAAHL final. Game 1 for the SFMAAAHL championship series is set for 7:45 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon.

    Against the Wildcats on Wednesday, the Rebels took a 2-0 lead in the second period with goals coming from the sticks of veteran forward Lauren Focht and Bohlken, who scored her first of two on the night.

    The Wildcats evened things up at 2-2 early in the third period with goals coming from the sticks of 17-year-old veteran forward Carissa Hogan and SFMAAAHL MVP Taylor Lind. Lind scored short-handed to force the 2-2 tie with 14:14 remaining in the third period.

Taylor Lind scored for the Wildcats on Wednesday.

    Both Hogan and Lind ultimately played the final games of the respective stellar midget AAA careers.

    After the Wildcats tied things up, that set the stage for Bohlken to score her second goal of the night to become the overtime hero for the Rebels.

    Chantel Weller stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels. Amaya Giraudier turned away 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wildcats.

    The Rebels finished second in the SFMAAAHL regular season standings with a 17-7-4 mark, while the Wildcats placed third with a 17-10-1 record.

    The Rebels and Wildcats split the first two games of their SFMAAAHL semifinal series. Regina went ahead 2-1 in the series taking Game 3 on Tuesday 4-2 at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    In that contest, Emma DeCorby, Kaylee Dyer, Focht and Jordan Fry netted singles for the Rebels. Kamryn Johnson and Sara Kendall replied with singles for the Wildcats.

    Weller made 27 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels. Giraudier turned away 19 shots to take the setback in goal for the Wildcats.

    The Rebels swept away the Melville Prairie Fire 3-0 in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series. The Wildcats swept away the Battlefords Sharks 3-0 in another best-of-five SFMAAAHL quarter-final series.

    Back in 2013, the Rebels swept the Prince Albert Northern Bears 3-0 in the best-of-five SFMAAAHL championship series.

    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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Kushniruk on fire for Stars

Saskatoon forward has points in eight straight games

Makena Kushniruk has 16 points in the Stars last eight regular season games.

    Makena Kushniruk is suddenly all for playing through the Christmas break.

    The 15-year-old sophomore winger for the Saskatoon Stars has been on fire for a little over a month. On Saturday, Kushniruk had two goals including the winner in the third period to lift the defending Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League champions to a 3-2 regular season victory over the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at Merlis Belsher Place.

    With those goals, Kushniruk has points in her last eight straight regular season games totaling 10 goals and six assists over that period of time. In helping the Stars post an 18-0 regular season record, Kushniruk has piled up 12 goals and 13 assists to sit fourth in the SFMAAAHL scoring race.

Makena Kushniruk (#10) celebrates her winning goal for the Stars.

    She has way surpassed her offensive totals from her rookie campaign last season, where she had three goals and eight assists appearing in all of the Stars 28 regular season contests.

    Kushniruk said her consecutive games point streak has greatly improved her confidence. As a rookie last season, she admitted there were times she was overwhelmed playing on a team that contained numerous standout veterans like Grace Shirley, Joelle Fiala, Anna Leschyshyn and Mackenna Parker. Parker graduated from the squad at the end of last season.

    “Last year was a little intimidating,” said Kushniruk. “I felt like I couldn’t take the puck.

    “I thought I always had to pass it to an older player, because they have more experience. I know now that it is not about that, and that I have the ability to do it.”

    More often than naught this season, Kushniruk has found herself as the trigger person playing on a forward line with Fiala, who is an ultra-skilled playmaker.

Makena Kushniruk, right, clears the puck on the penalty kill.

    With the Stars locked in a 2-2 tie in the third period with the Wildcats, Kushniruk tipped home a sweet set up pass from Fiala to net the winning goal for Saskatoon with 8:38 to play in the frame.

    “It feels just so good,” said Kushniruk about scoring the winning goal. “It doesn’t really matter if it was me or anyone else on the team.

    “It is just that we got the goal in and came out with the win.”

    Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian was pleased to see Kushniruk has found her offensive touch.

Joelle Fiala assisted on the Stars winning goal.

    “She had a real good summer this year, and she really developed,” said Slobodzian. “When she started this season, she came to camp and she was one of our best forwards at camp.

    “She sort of stumbled out of the gate at the beginning of the season. It wasn’t happening, and she started to get frustrated. We just sort of calmed her down a little bit and made her realize you still have put the effort in.

    “As soon as she started moving her feet, she is really smart, good with the puck and has that composure that I talk about all the time, things just started working for her. She has a hot hand right now.”

    Slobodzian said it has been big for the Stars to have another forward breakout offensively outside of the trio of Shirley, Leschyshyn and Fiala.

    “If you look at the scoresheet the last couple of games, I don’t know if Grace Shirley has a goal,” said Slobodzian. “For us to still come out on top with everyone else chipping in, it is a real good sign that we are building what we need to go deep.

    “Any time those players can start putting the numbers on the board and then consistently like Makena (Kushniruk), what it does is the other teams all of sudden have to look out for another player. It gives more room for those Grace Shirleys and Joelle Fialas.”

Anna Leschyshyn, right, scored the Stars first goal on Saturday.

    On Dec. 9, Kushniruk netted the winning goal in the third period for the Stars in the championship final of the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament in Wilcox, Sask. Saskatoon downed the host Notre Dame Hounds 3-1 in the title game.

    Kushniruk said she appreciates the fact her Stars won the Mandi Schwartz Tournament and have started 18-0 in the regular season. The Stars are now off until Jan. 10 in the new year, when they travel to Battleford to face the Battlefords Sharks.

    Kushniruk admits she would have loved to continue playing through the break considering the hot streak she is on personally.

Amaya Giraudier makes one of her 25 saves for the Wildcats.

    “I am a little bit worried coming off from like a two-week break,” said Kushniruk, whose older sister Jadyn plays for the Prince Albert Northern Bears. “I’m probably going to be like going to the ODR (outdoor rink) or something and just like still being on the ice and just always practising whether it is going to the gym or finding some open ice.”

    The Wildcats took a 1-0 first period lead in Saturday’s game on a goal from Layne Hryhoriw.

    Leschyshyn sent the teams into the first intermission locked in a 1-1 tie sniping home a low on ice shot with 21.5 seconds to play in the opening frame.

    Makena Kushniruk scored her first of the contest 16 seconds into the second period to give the Stars a 2-1 advantage.

    Brooklyn Rublee scored the equalizer for the Wildcats to force a 2-2 draw heading into the second intermission.

Ashley Messier gets set in the offensive zone for the Stars.

    With 12:05 remaining in the third period, Wildcats forward Baylee Kirwan was stopped on a penalty shot by Stars netminder Kaitlyn Cadrain.

    That set the stage for Kushniruk to score the winner in the third period.

    Cadrain made 18 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Amaya Giraudier turned away 25 shots to take the setback in net for the Wildcats, who fell to 6-9-1.

    The Wildcats return to regular season action on Jan. 5 in the new year, when travel to Battleford to take on the Battlefords Sharks.

    Kushniruk is looking forward to resuming play with the Stars after the Christmas break.

    “I am really excited,” said Kushniruk. “It is nice to have a little break.

The Stars celebrate their win over the Wildcats.

    “When we get back to the rink, we’re going to be working hard together.”

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.