Monday, 11 March 2019

Bears stay alive in post-season with Game 3 win over Hounds

Abby Soyko scored the winner for the Bears on Monday.
    The Prince Albert Northern Bears added at least 60 minutes of life to their 2018-19 season.
    On Monday at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert, the Bears staved off elimination from the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs with a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of a best-of-five first round series with the Notre Dame Hounds. With the win, the Bears cut the Hounds lead in the series to 2-1.
    Notre Dame will have its next chance to wrap up the series hosting Game 4 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Duncan McNeill Arena in Wilcox. If the Bears are able to win that contest, the two squads would meet in a series deciding Game 5 on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
    The Hounds claimed Game 1 of the series by a 3-2 score last Thursday in Prince Albert, and took Game 2 by a 5-1 score last Saturday in Wilcox.
    In Monday’s encounter, the Bears took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal from Miranda Heidt. The hosts went up 2-0 when veteran forward Jasper Desmarais scored on the power play at the 6:57 mark of the second period.
    Before the second intermission rolled around, the Hounds cut the Bears lead to 2-1 on a goal from star forward Lyndsey Janes.
    At the 9:11 mark of the third period, star captain Abby Soyko put the Bears up 3-1 with a power-play goal.
    Jada Livingston scored for the Hounds with 6:10 remaining in the third period to cut the Bears lead to 3-2. Notre Dame was unable to net the equalizer from that point.
    Lexi Beuker turned away 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Bears, who were 17-9-2 during the regular season. Star netminder Kaitlyn Ross turned away 31 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hounds, who were 12-13-3 in the regular season.
    During the series, Soyko was named a second team SFMAAAHL all-star at forward. Bears forward Jadyn Kushniruk, who is playing her final season of midget AAA eligibility, was named the winner of the Carol Scheibel Top Scholastic Player award.
    The Bears off-ice crew of Dwight Sachkowski, Gary Schwan, Ron Wildey and Lloyd McBeath won the Esso Volunteer Award.
    The winner of this series will advance to face the defending SFMAAAHL champion Saskatoon Stars in a best-of-five semifinal series. The Stars finished first overall in the SFMAAAHL with a 27-1 record.

Wildcats sweep away Sharks in OT

Taylor Lind is the MVP of the SFMAAAHL.
    The Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats punched their into the SFMAAAHL semifinal round in dramatic fashion.
    On Sunday at the Fairview Arena in Swift Current, the Wildcats downed the Battlefords Sharks 2-1 in overtime in Game 3 of a best-of-five SFMAAAHL first round series. With the win, the Wildcats swept the best-of-five set 3-0.
    In the series clinching win, sophomore 15-year-old forward Baylee Kirwan scored the winner on a power play at the 2:22 mark in overtime to deliver the Wildcats to victory. Sara Kendall and Maddy McCleary picked up assists on the winning tally.
    Star captain Taylor Lind gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead scoring a power-play goal 40 seconds into the second period. Brooklyn Rublee and Ryleigh White had assists on Lind’s tally.
    Veteran forward Ensley Fendelet, who is playing her final season of midget AAA eligibility, potted the equalizer for the Sharks to force a 1-1 tie and overtime with 2:18 remaining in the third period.
    Harper Davey stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Wildcats, who were 17-10-1 during the regular season. Haylie Biever turned away 37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Sharks, who were 11-13-4 in the regular season.
    The Wildcats are 14-1 including action in the regular season and playoffs since returning to play after the Christmas break.
    During the series with the Sharks, Lind was named the winner of the Hayley Wickenheiser Most Valuable Player award, a first team SFMAAAHL all-star at forward and formally received the Kelly Bechard Top Scorer award. Sharks captain Ali Aitken was named a second team SFMAAAHL all-star at forward.
    The Wildcats will face the Regina Rebels in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series. Game 1 of that series is set for 4:45 p.m. at Saturday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

Rebels douse Prairie Fire in three games

Neena Brick is the top rookie of the SFMAAAHL.
    An offensive explosion allowed the Regina Rebels to sweep the Melville Prairie Fire out of the SFMAAAHL playoffs.
    On Sunday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina, the Rebels broke a 1-1 tie scoring three times in the third period to down the Prairie Fire 4-1 in Game 3 of a best-of-five SFMAAAHL first round series. With the win, the Rebels sweep the best-of-five set 3-0.
    Brooklyn Stevely gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at the 2:29 mark of the first period. Samantha Thompson netted the equalizer for the Prairie Fire scoring on the power play at the 13:23 mark of the first period to force a 1-1 tie.
    Facing elimination, the Prairie Fire ensured the 1-1 score held up heading into the third period.
    The Rebels scored three times in the first 5:18 of the third to cement the final outcome. Neena Brick scored twice and Samantha Sichkaruk had a single in the Rebels three-goal surge.
    Payton Schlamp turned away 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rebels, who were 17-7-4 during the regular season. Cheyenne Jamieson turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for Prairie Fire, who were 10-16-2 during the regular season.
    During the series, Brick was named the winner of the Dana Antal Top Rookie award, while Stevely was named a first team SFMAAAHL all-star defender.
    Prairie Fire veteran defender Allison Hayhurst was named a second team SFMAAAHL all-star. Melville head coach Casey O’Brien claimed the Shannon Miller and Wally Kozak Top Coach award.
    The Rebels advance to face the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats in a best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series. Game 1 of that series is set for 4:45 p.m. at Saturday at the Co-operators Centre in Regina.

Canada just short of women’s hockey gold at Universiade


    A heroic 40 save performance from Jessica Vance wasn’t enough to capture a gold medal for Canada’s women’s hockey team at the FISU Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
    Vance, who is the star netminder for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team, made 40 saves on Monday as Canada fell 2-0 to host Russia in the gold medal final at the Winter Universiade. Canada’s women’s hockey team captured a silver medal in each of the last three Winter Universiades.
    Thanks to Vance’s puck stopping, Canada and Russia entered the third period locked in a 0-0 tie. At the 6:53 mark of the third, Canada was given a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass while in the defensive zone.
    On the ensuing power play, Liana Ganeeva scored to give Russia a 1-0 lead. Alevtina Shtareva scored into an empty-net inside of the game’s final 15 seconds to seal a 2-0 win for the host side.
Nadezhda Morozova turned away 34 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for Russia.
    Besides including Vance, the Canadian roster contained Leah Bohlken, who is a star defender for the Huskies, and Kaitlin Willoughby, who was the former star captain with the Huskies and now plays professionally for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
    Vance and Willoughby are both alums of the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA team. Before joining the Huskies, Bohlken spent time in the SFMAAAHL briefly with the Weyburn Richardson Pioneer Gold Wing and mainly with the Regina Rebels. She also played for the Notre Dame Hounds entry in the Junior Women’s Hockey League.
    Willoughby was the captain of the Canadian team and was a member of Canada’s women’s hockey team that won silver at the 2017 Winter Universiade in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
    With the conclusion of Monday’s gold medal game, the 2018-19 hockey seasons for Vance and Bohlken have come to an end as the Huskies were eliminated from the U Sports playoffs back on Feb. 23.
    Willoughby’s season still has one more game. She will join the Inferno to play for the Clarkson Cup to become CWHL champions on March 24 in Toronto against Les Canadiennes de Montreal. The Clarkson Cup is a one-game championship final.

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