Cougars blank Huskies 2-0 in playoff type encounter

Huskies LW Kenzie Lausberg (#22) shields off a Cougars defender.

University of Saskatchewan Huskies Women’s Hockey team got a tune up for the post-season.

On Saturday, the Huskies finished out hosting a two-game regular season set against the defending U Sports champion Mount Royal University Cougars before 711 spectators at Merlis Belsher Place. In that clash, the smallest moment in time proved to be the difference when it came to earning a victory and taking a defeat.

The two sides entered the third period locked in a 0-0. The Huskies, who are rated 10^th in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, started the frame working on the power play, and during that opportunity, star left-winger Sophie Lalor rang a shot off the crossbar.

The Cougars celebrate a goal from Athena Hauck (#29).

After that power play expired, Cougars fourth-year left-winger Athena Hauck found herself alone in front of the Huskies net. She wired home a midrange shot to the top left corner of the Huskies goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the 5:26 mark of the frame.

With 12.9 seconds remaining in the third, Cougars fourth-year centre and team captain Lyndsey Janes popped home an empty-net goal that cemented a 2-0 victory for the visitors, who are rated ninth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings.

“The margin of error tonight was we had a centre who lost an assignment for like three seconds, and that is the margin of error,” said Huskies head coach Steve Kook. “That would be playoff hockey.

“Outside of that, it was a solid game. Outside of that, we are going to overtime. Outside of that, we are going to a shootout.”

Athena Hauck had the winning goal for the Cougars.

While the Huskies came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard, Kook thought Saturday’s game as a big bounce back one for his squad after they dropped a 4-1 decision to the Cougars on Friday night at Merlis Belsher Place. In Saturday’s regular season clash, Kook said the Cougars ultimately showed the pedigree which saw them win the U Sports championship last year.

“Given our performance last night which I thought was terrible with the exception of (Huskies star netminder) Cam (Camryn Drever), it was a 180 degree turnaround,” said Kook. “We just totally got off script yesterday.

“Today, we played on script. Kudos to them, I think they blocked probably about 10 or 12 shots in the last five or six minutes, and a couple of them had to crawl off the ice. They’re a national champion, and that is what they are willing to do.

Paris Oleksyn jets into the offensive zone for the Huskies.

“They block shots right in the gut and the chest and crawled off the ice.”

The setback saw the Huskies fall to 17-7-1-1. With two games left on their regular season schedule, the Huskies are locked into fourth place in the Canada West Conference standings. They will open the post-season hosting a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series against either the 11-13-2 U of Calgary Dinos or the 10-15-1 U of Manitoba Bisons.

U of S has lost three straight, and the skid started on Jan. 27 with a 2-0 setback against the U of Alberta Pandas in Edmonton. The Pandas, who are rated fourth in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, sit second in the Canada West Conference with a 19-3-1-3 mark.

Camryn Drever stopped 24-of-25 shots in goal for the Huskies.

The Cougars improved to 20-6 with the win over the Huskies to sit third in Canada West just two standings points behind the Pandas. Both the Cougars and Pandas have two games remaining on their respective regular season schedules.

The defending Canada West champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, who are rated third in the U Sports Top 10 Rankings, have first place in Canada West locked up with a 22-1-1-2 mark. They will have home ice advantage throughout the Canada West playoffs in the U Sports post-season.

The Thunderbirds, Pandas, Cougars, Huskies, Dinos and Bisons will be the six teams taking part in the Canada West playoffs.

Scout Anderson (#30) makes one of her 15 saves for the Cougars.

Huskies third-year left-winger Paris Oleksyn said Saturday’s clash with the Cougars was a game where her squad had to battle for everything. She said those types of games will be the norm for her squad in the post-season.

“This game was definitely a good stepping stone going into playoffs,” said Oleksyn. “It kind of taught us what to expect in playoffs.

“I really thought like we battled like a playoff game. We worked hard. It sucks that we didn’t get the lucky bounces our way.

“We hit a few posts and stuff like that. I think as a team we played a lot better today, and we played like a playoff game.”

Sophie Lalor wired a shot off the crossbar early in the third.

Saturday’s encounter started out a tight checking one. The Huskies first shot on goal in the contest came at the 13:50 mark of the opening frame from defender Kendra Zuchotzki, and at that point in time, the Cougars only held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal. Mount Royal held a 7-2 edge in the shots on goal department after 20 minutes.

In the first half of the second period, the Huskies had a pair of power plays. With a one skater advantage, the Huskies had great puck movement and set up some strong scoring chances. They did everything they could right on the power plays but weren’t able to crack on to the scoreboard due to solid work from Cougars second-year netminder Scout Anderson.

Kendra Zuchotzki brings the puck up ice for the Huskies.

Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play on Saturday. The Huskies seemingly had the stronger chances to score on their power plays, which played a factor in the game’s final outcome.

“On the power play in the second period, (McKenna) Bolger hits the top of Scout Anderson’s stick, and it goes out the other way,” said Kook. “(Sophie) Lalor puts one off the crossbar here (in the third period).

“They blocked probably more shots than we got through.”

After the Cougars went ahead, the Huskies best chance to get the equalizer might have come when second-year right-winger Jayde Cadieux was denied from point-blank range at the right side of the Mount Royal net.

The Cougars celebrate an empty-net goal from Lyndsey Janes (#12).

Drever stopped 24-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Huskies. Anderson turned away all 15 shots she faced to pick up her third shutout win of the campaign.

The Huskies close their regular season schedule traveling to Winnipeg to take on the Bisons this coming Friday and Saturday at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. local time and Saturday’s clash is tabbed for 3 p.m. local time.

Oleksyn said her Huskies will be focused on getting back into the win column before the post-season rolls around.

“We know what we need to do to get the job done,” said Oleksyn. “We know what we don’t have to do.

“We just have to focus on capitalizing on the important parts of the game and work together as a team.”

Huskies captain Kennedy Brown will soon graduate from the team.

NOTES – Saturday’s game was “Seniors Night” as the Huskies honoured their graduating players presenting them with jerseys in a pre-game ceremony. The Huskies graduating players include Drever, Lalor, captain Kennedy Brown, Isabella Pozzi, Kara Kondrat, Kenzie Lausberg and Kate Ball. Ball still has one more season of U Sports eligibility remaining, but she is slated to graduate from the Kinesiology program at the U of S and plans to move on to her next life chapter. The Huskies held a kids skate following Saturday’s game.

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

-------

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.

Bears’ rookie Archer slams door on Sharks in OT win

Bears G Brooke Archer turns away Sharks F Lacey Schneider.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Brooke Archer wasn’t going to let an opportunity for redemption pass her by.

Last Sunday at the SaskTel Centre, 15-year-old rookie goalie for the Prince Albert Northern Bears made her first Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League regular season start. The Mossbank, Sask., product made 27 saves coming up on the wrong end of a 7-2 loss to the host Saskatoon Stars.

The Bears played their next game after that setback on Saturday inside the friendly confines of the Art Hauser Centre, and Archer found herself getting the start again in goal. She made 21 stops helping the Bears post a 2-1 overtime victory over the visiting Battlefords Sharks.

Brooke Archer directs a shot into the corner.

The two sides go at it again on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Battleford Arena in Battleford.

Archer was pleased Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby didn’t allow her to dwell too long on the lopsided loss to the Stars.

“I was actually really surprised, but I was happy,” said Archer. “I felt that hopefully I could redeem myself this game and come back out better.”

Actually, it might be accurate to say Archer played so well she stole Saturday’s game for the Bears. She turned away speedy Sharks 17-year-old forward Jordyn Blais on three different breakaway opportunities.

Brooke Archer made 21 saves on Saturday.

Blais had two breakaway chances while the Sharks were short-handed.

During the game’s first 40-minutes, the Sharks had a slim 20-19 edge in shots on goal, but the visitors also had numerous grade A scoring chances.

Archer made a larger number of tough saves to allow the Bears to exit the first 40 minutes locked in a 1-1 tie.

“I was a little scared going into this one after what happened in the last one,” said Archer. “Once I got in the home ice, I felt my confidence went up a lot more.”

When it came to facing Blais on those three breakaway, Archer had a strategy.

“I knew she was going to shoot each time just because we had a D-man pressuring her,” said Archer. “I was just ready for the shot.”

Brooke Archer gathers up a loose puck.

After the two sides played a tight checking scoreless third period, it didn’t take the Bears long to get the win in a four-on-four overtime session. Just 35 seconds into the extra frame, Bears winger Haley Kicia sprung captain Paris Oleksyn on a breakaway to the Sharks goal with a smart pass.

Oleksyn wired the winner to the top right corner of the Battlefords net over the shoulder of Sharks 16-year-old veteran goalie Yelena Zaleschuk. The veteran 17-year-old Prince Albert centre was pumped to net the overtime winner.

Yelena Zaleschuk made 24 saves for the Sharks.

“It was a heck of a feeling,” said Oleksyn. “There was a lot nerves at the beginning.

“It was the first overtime of the year, which was kind of scary. Me and Haley (Kicia), we’re super excited. We just need to focus on getting the puck deep, and then it is four-on-four.

“It shouldn’t be that hard to create some two-on-ones which we did. We retrieved the puck, and it was just the best feeling.”

Oleksyn said the Bears had to get the win too after Archer made all her key saves to keep the host side in the contest.

“She (Archer) was having an amazing game,” said Oleksyn. “It was hard for us that we couldn’t help her out, because she kept stopping like breakaway shots and everything.

Ava Cole scored to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.

“There wasn’t a lot we could do to help her out until the end.”

After a scoreless opening frame, the Sharks got on the board first at the 3:38 mark of the second. Working on the power play, Sharks defender Ava Cole snuck down from the point and collected the loose puck at the left side of the Bears net.

Cole popped home an extra-strength marker from close in to the top corner of the Prince Albert goal to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

The Bears responded 41 seconds later when centre Sophia Zuck roofed home a shot on an offensive zone rush to even the score at 1-1.

From that point, Archer ensured the door to the Prince Albert net stayed shut helping her team improve to 2-1.

Sophia Zuck scored the equalizer for the Bears.

Zaleschuk had a solid outing as well turning away 24 shots to take the setback in goal for the Sharks, who were making their regular season debut in the 2020-21 campaign.

Willoughby said the Bears coaching staff believed they needed to let Archer start another game as quickly as possible to help her get past the loss she took in her regular season debut.

“We just felt that she needed to play,” said Willoughby. “Instead of sitting and thinking about the last game one more day, let’s just get her back in the action.

“There is no better way than to just get right back into it. I thought playing at the Art Hauser she would feel more comfortable. Obviously, it showed today.

Paris Oleksyn had the OT winner for the Bears.

“I thought she had great composure on some of the saves she had to make like three breakaways and some in tight rebounds. She had really good composure. We were glad with the decision that was made, and it paid off I think for all of us.”

Willoughby said he was happy for Archer, and believes his netminder got exactly what she needed. The veteran bench boss added the Bears skaters need to play better in front of their goaltenders but having Archer gain a boost of confidence was a big plus.

“Games can be swung either way just by how your goaltender is playing,” said Willoughby. “If we can continue to get that performance from Brooke and both our goalies, it just helps us out throughout the way here.”

The Bears celebrate their OT victory on Saturday.

On top of gaining a confidence boost, Archer will never forget getting her first win for the Bears.

“It was so exciting,” said Archer. “I just had so energy going over there, and it was just an awesome feeling.

“I hope we get lots more from there.”

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

-------                                     

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.

Covering first hockey game in over eight months felt good

The Stars and Bears tangle at the SaskTel Centre on Sunday.

I admit I set my expectations very low for the 2020-21 hockey campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

For the longest time, I didn’t think I would cover a single game live during the current season. That changed on Sunday when I was able to make it to the SaskTel Centre to cover the Saskatoon Stars 7-2 SFU18AAAHL regular season home opening victory over their traditional rivals the Prince Albert Northern Bears.

I expected COVID-19 restrictions to be at the point that games during the 2020-21 hockey season would be played without fans and media would have to cover and even do play-by-play broadcasts of contests over a computer monitor as the game ran over a streaming service.

Jocelyn Fiala controls the puck for the Stars.

Of course with the COVID-19 restrictions in place in Saskatchewan at the moment, crowds for sporting events have to be capped at 150 persons. Still, games are being played, and some people are able to go to them.

Sunday marked the first hockey game I’ve covered live since March 12, when the Saskatoon Contacts fell 5-3 to the Moose Jaw Warriors in Game 3 of a best-of-five SMAAAHL semifinal series at Merlis Belsher Place. The Warriors swept that series 3-0.

Just about a couple of hours before that game was played, it was announced the rest of the minor hockey season for 2019-20 governed under the Hockey Canada umbrella would be cancelled the next day due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brooklin Fry controls the puck at the point for the Bears.

Back on March 15, I took one last walk through Merlis Belsher Place as it was hosting a University of Saskatchewan Campus Recreation hockey tournament. Merlis Belsher Place was slated to close the next day, and that tour felt like a naval captain making a final walk around his ship before entering a battle where you expected the ship to get sunk.

Of course, Merlis Belsher Place in now a COVID-19 field hospital in waiting, and no one knows when it will be used as a sports facility again.

When I went to cover the clash between the Stars and Bears on Sunday, I planned on making the exercise as straightforward as possible and allow me to get my feet wet with working a game again. I went to the rink with a camera to shoot pictures of the game and a notepad to track developments in the contest.

Makena Kushniruk (#20) and Sydney Mercier (#20) jet up ice.

Since it was the first game I would cover in a little over eight months, I planned on writing a column on the contest and decided to not do any interviews at this point in time.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I would usually be bringing a laptop too, and I would have a work station set up in the press box.

On this trip to the SaskTel Centre, I sat in an assigned seat in the stands, which was set up fairly well for shooting pictures of the game. I was in the top row of the lower bowl.

Normally on trips to the SaskTel Centre, I would work games from the press box in the catwalk and cycle down to ice level to take pictures from the two shooting ports. Actually, I have usually shot pictures from all sorts of different points from the SaskTel Centre.

Paris Oleksyn works in the offensive zone for the Bears.

In these COVID-19 times, that would mean staff would have to sanitize everywhere I went. As a result, I was fine with picture taking being limited to one spot.

Over the years, I’ve gotten to know a few staffers at the SaskTel Centre, and I know they have to deal with a tonne of things they don’t normally deal with due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, the obvious reminder that it was a different time on Sunday was the fact that everyone in the building wore facemasks as one of the COVID-19 public health protocols.

When the contest itself started and got going, my mind got back into the regular routine of covering a hockey game. I felt locked in to the ebbs and flows of the clash.

Kalli Hiebert starts a rush up ice for the Stars.

I covered a number of encounters between the Stars and Bears since moving to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, so good memories of the past also went through my head as the game went on.

I thought Stars captain Makena Kushniruk and 17-year-old veteran forward Sydney Mercier had great games.

A lot of the players on the Stars had really good games, and I believed that 15-year-old rookie defender Jocelyn Fiala was really solid on the back end.

As strange as this sound, the Bears played a lot better than the 7-2 final score in the Stars favour would indicate. I thought their veterans like captain Paris Oleksyn and 16-year-old defender Paige Dawson were solid.

Paige Dawson controls the puck at the point for the Bears.

Brooklin Fry, who is a rookie 15-year-old defender, showed real well. Outside of hockey, Fry is the defending Saskatchewan junior women’s and amateur women’s golf champion.

Bears 15-year-old rookie goalie Brooke Archer was making her first career regular season start, and I think jitters and nerves might have affected her game. As she goes forward in her career, I think she will be a lot better and Sunday’s game will be something Archer can laugh about at some point in time.

While it was good to be at a live hockey game again, it was also fun to mingle with some of the people in the stands. Everyone was spaced out with the assigned seating and there was no hanging around on the concourse.

Stars F Kieanna Higgs, left, tries to get by Bears F Jasmine Kohl.

Mingling was restricted to who you could talk to from your seat. 

For me, that included talking to Steve Kook, who is the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, and Dave Westbury, who is the equipment manager of the Huskies women’s hockey team.

I got to visit with Julie Fiala and Evan Fiala as well. Julie, is Jocelyn’s mom and Evan is Jocelyn’s older brother. 

The Stars enjoyed the bulk of the goal celebrations on Sunday.

Evan used to be the captain of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and now plays defence for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team.

My social bubble was pretty much limited to that foursome, but it was great to see them. I hadn’t seen any of them since March 12.

Since my last tour of Merlis Belsher Place, I had only been inside a hockey rink twice before going to the SaskTel Centre for Sunday’s game.

I had actually only seen a handful of people live in person from the hockey community before making Sunday’s game between the Stars and Bears.

In these COVID-19 times, there are no guarantees that upcoming games on any hockey schedule will be played. That thought crossed my mind on Sunday.

All set from my SaskTel Centre perch for Sunday’s game. 

Still, it was great to enjoy being at the rink and figures are crossed that won’t be the only venture to the rink this hockey season.

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

-------                                     

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.

Stars’ number retirement further cements Clark as hero

Emily Clark, centre, with Anica Gauthier (#22) and Bridget Rezansoff (#17).

    For little girls in Saskatoon and area, Emily Clark is a larger than life hero.

    On Friday, Clark’s hero status received another big boost upwards when the Saskatoon Stars retired her #13 before their 4-3 Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League regular season setback to the league leading Regina Rebels.

    The skilled forward played three seasons for the Stars from 2009 to 2012 appearing in 82 regular season games collecting 45 goals and 46 assists for 91 points.

    Her best season came in her final campaign in 2011-12. During that season with the Stars, Clark appeared in 26 regular season game collecting 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points.

    Clark’s 34 helpers are still a Stars record for most assists in one regular season. Her 60 points is still a team record for most points in one regular season, but it was matched in the 2017-18 campaign by Mackenna Parker, who tallied a club record 33 goals and 27 assists in 23 regular season games.

Emily Clark, left, and her father, Del Clark, watch her number get raised up.

    Little girls know Clark best from playing with Canada’s senior national women’s hockey team, which included winning a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February of 2018.
    They also know about her being a member of the University of Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team that won an NCAA championship last season.

    When Clark makes appearances back in her hometown of Saskatoon, it helps connect the 24-year-old to her local area fans and makes her more real to them. As an added bonus, Clark is really good when it comes to interacting with children.

    The Stars did a great job with Clark’s jersey retirement night. Her young fans would have been in awe of her highlight package that was shown on the video scoreboard that was supplied by the Badgers communications department.

Emily Clark, centre, shakes hands with Rebels captain Sydney Pedersen.

    Clark’s goals on that video were incredible.

    It is hoped that one day number retirement ceremonies for female athletes like Clark will be a more common thing. At the moment, it isn’t common to see a sports team retire a number for a female athlete.

    During my time in media dating to beginnings in student media back in 1996, Clark’s number retirement was the first one I have attended for a female athlete. For as long as I have physically walked on Earth, Clark’s number retirement ceremony is the only one I have seen in person or on a video broadcast for a female athlete.
    Despite coming a long way over the last 20 years, female sports still fights an uphill battle for exposure. With the media cuts that have come down in Canada over the last 20 years, the will by management to cover female sports is close to nil unless a legend defeating tennis player like Bianca Andreescu comes along.
    Mainstream outlets are more concerned these days with focusing resources on conflicts in government politics.

Emily Clark, left, interacts with a couple of young fans.

    Even in Saskatoon, it is easy to list female athletes who should have a bigger following.

Libby Epoch, who is a fourth-year point guard for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team, should be a household name. She has been part of Canada’s national team system, but you would be hard pressed to find someone outside of Huskie Athletics who knows who she is.

    Berit Johnson is a third-year member for the U of S Huskies women’s wrestling team. Last season, she won a silver medal at the U Sports nationals and won a junior national title at the Canadian championships.

    At age 20, she has the potential to make big waves in her sport, but barely anyone knows anything about her outside her sport.

Emily Clark, left, is pictured with one of her fans.

    Netminder Jessica Vance from the U of S Huskies women’s hockey team has a big following from her hometown in Prince Albert, Sask., but she should still have a bigger profile than she does in Saskatoon.
    When any of these ladies does something significant and it gets attention, little girls see it and believe they can do that too and also have a positive impact on society.

    Locally, Clark is the female athlete from Saskatoon and area who has the biggest following.

    When little girls in Saskatoon and area encounter Clark, it is a big “oh wow” experience for them.

    That even goes for girls in their teenage years. Parker was a ball of happy mush when she equalled Clark’s Stars record for most points in one regular season, because Clark is her hero.

    After the Stars retired Clark’s number on Friday night, you can be sure there were a number of little girls who left Merlis Belsher Place that night believing they could do something great and special too.

Focht hits 60 in Rebels 5-2 victory

Lauren Focht scored her 60th career goal on Sunday.

    Lauren Focht hit another big career milestone before her Regina Rebels embarked on their Christmas break.

    On Sunday at the Art Hauser Centre, Focht netted her 60^th career regular season goal in her Rebels 5-2 victory over the host Prince Albert Northern Bears in a SFMAAAHL regular season contest. The 17-year-old star forward netted her milestone goal on a power play in the third period, which gave her club a 4-2 lead at that point in the contest.

    Alexis Petford and Neena Brick picked up assists on Focht’s 60^th career tally.

    Focht becomes just the 12^th player in the history of the SFMAAAHL to score 60 or more goals and just the third member of the Rebels to pull off that feat.

    Emma Waldenberger scored 60 career regular season goals in four campaigns with the Rebels from 2010 to 2014. Waldenberger also posted 61 career assists for a total of 121 points in 109 career regular season contests.

    She is the Rebels all-time leader in regular season points.

    Kennedy Bobyck scored 63 regular season goals over three campaigns with the Rebels from 2014 to 2017. She collected 57 assists for 120 points in 80 career regular season games.

    Focht is in her fourth full season with the Rebels, and has collected 45 assists and 105 points in 90 career regular season games with her hometown team. She is one of 19 players in the history of the SFMAAAHL to record 105 or more regular season points.

    In Sunday’s clash with the Bears, the Rebels took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame with a goal from Allee Gerrard.

Lauren Focht has 105 points in 90 career regular season games.

    Bears forward Paris Oleksyn replied with a pair of goals in the opening frame to give the host side a 2-1 advantage.

    Before the first period expired, Shaelyn Myers scored for the Rebels to force a 2-2 tie.

    Brick scored the only goal in the second period to give the Rebels a 3-2 advantage. Focht and Megan Hayhurst sealed a Regina victory with power-play goals in the third.

    Chantel Weller stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels, who top the SFMAAAHL standings with a 14-0-1 record.

    Janae Neufeld turned away 26 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bears.

    The Bears, who will host the Esso Cup national female midget AAA championship tournament in April of the new year, fell to 9-7-1, but they continue to sit third in the SFMAAAHL.

    Sunday’s contest finished off a stretch for the Rebels where they played three contests in less than 48 hours. They won all three of those games in regulation time.

    Both the Rebels and Bears now depart on their respective Christmas breaks.

    The Rebels return to regular season action on Saturday, Jan. 4 in the new year when they host the Battlefords Sharks (7-9) at 8 p.m. at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

    The Bears return to regular season play on Friday, Jan. 3 in the new year when they host the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats (11-1) at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

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

-------                                     

    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.

Stars’ Shirley hits 80 career SFMAAAHL goals in style

Grace Shirley scored the OT winner for the Stars on Sunday.

    Grace Shirley always seems to rise to the occasion in big moments.

    With that said, it should come as no surprise the Saskatoon Stars captain hit another major milestone on an overtime winning goal.

    On Sunday afternoon with the Stars locked in a 2-2 tie with the Prince Albert Northern Bears at Merlis Belsher Place, Shirley drove home the winning goal on the power play from the front of the Bears net with 72 seconds remaining in the extra session. Shirley’s goal gave the Stars a 3-2 victory, and she became just the third player to score 80 career regular season goals in the history of the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.

Grace Shirley, left, celebrates her OT winning goal with Joelle Fiala (#27)

    In 92 career regular season games, Shirley has collected 80 goals and 57 assists for 137 points to sit as the fourth all-time leading scorer in the history of the SFMAAAHL. She was caught off guard when told she reached 80 career regular season goals.

    “I guess it is pretty cool,” said Shirley. “I like didn’t realize it or anything.

    “It is kind of nice to hear that. I’m just happy that we got the win, because I definitely think we deserved it.”

    The other players that scored 80 or more regular season goals in the history of the SFMAAAHL were Olivia Howe, who piled up 107 goals in 106 regular season games playing for the Notre Dame Hounds from 2008 to 2012, and Shirley’s former Stars teammate Mackenna Parker, who collected 82 goals in 104 regular season games. Parker graduated from the Stars as their captain at the end of last season.

Paris Oleksyn scored the Bears first goal on Sunday.

    Shirley has built a history of scoring big overtime goals for the Stars. In her rookie season in 2015-16, she scored the overtime winner in the deciding game of the SFMAAAHL championship series to give the Stars their second league title.

    Stars head coach Greg Slobodzian said he never stops being amazed by his talented captain.

    “She (Shirley) is definitely a player that likes to rise to the occasion,” said Slobodzian. “She has done it for us a few times in overtime.

    “She did it again. As soon as it went in, my assistant coaches looked at me and said, ‘Wow, great move.’ Her in front of the net like that, there are pretty good odds it is going in.”   

Abby Soyko drives home the Bears second goal on Sunday.

    Shirley admitted the moment of scoring her 80^th career regular season goal was made more memorable because it came in overtime against the Bears, who are the Stars biggest rivals.

    “They are a really good team,” said Shirley. “They battled hard.

    “It was definitely a close game. It was nice to get the win over them for sure.”

Sunday’s game had a few changes in momentum.

    The Stars went ahead 1-0 in the first period on a goal from forward Kaitlin Jockims.

    The Bears jumped in front 2-1 scoring twice in a span of 83 seconds near the midway point of the second period. Prince Albert’s tallies came off the sticks of Paris Oleksyn and captain Abby Soyko, who scored off a hard drive to the Saskatoon net.

Ashley Messier had the equalizer for the Stars on Sunday.

    The Stars evened things up at 2-2 with 1:42 remaining in the second period on a hard mid-range blast from offensive-defender Ashley Messier.

    The two sides played through a scoreless third to set things up for Shirley’s heroics in overtime.

Kaitlyn Cadrain made 28 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Stars. Scout Anderson turned away 30 shots to take the overtime setback in the Bears net.

    The Stars improved to 10-0 with the win, while the Bear record moved to 5-4-1.

    Saskatoon and Prince Albert went at it on Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place with the Stars posting a 6-0 victory.

    Slobodzian expected a push back by the Bears in Sunday’s clash.

Goalie Kaitlyn Cadrain makes one of her 28 saves in goal for the Stars.

    “Teams answer the bell,” said Slobodzian. “They don’t like to chase the puck all night.

    “Today was the exact same. P.A. came and gave us what I expected. Their goaltender played well.

    “Those are the types of games that you want to play. I wish we were playing those games every day. That is how you get better as a group.”

    In Saturday’s 6-0 win by the Stars, Shirley and Chace Sperling each had a goal and an assist for Saskatoon. Anna Leschyshyn, Kaylee Baun, Calli Arnold and Jayda Sachs all had singles for the Stars.

    Jockims and Abby DeCorby had two assists each to help power the Saskatoon side.

    Arden Kliewer made 17 stops to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Stars. Lexi Beuker turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Bears.

Grace Shirley has scored 80 career regular season goals.

    Shirley said her squad has to be a little sharper, when they play teams a second time in a two-game weekend series.

    “We just have to come into our second game more focused and not thinking it is going to be easy,” said Shirley. “Every game, you need to put your best foot forward and just go hard all the time.

    “I think we just need to come into every game more focused and just with the mindset to work hard and kind of even finish off stronger than our first game. I think that will be something we work on for sure. We’ll take the two wins for sure here.”

    The Stars return to action this coming Saturday when they host the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings at 2:15 p.m. at Merlis Belsher Place.

    The Bears next game is Nov. 24, when they host the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

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

-------

    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.