Wildcats suffer two close losses to visiting Stars
The Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats had the opportunity to test themselves against the defending league champion Saskatoon Stars in their Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League opening weekend. The Wildcats appear to have closed the gap with the Stars, but were unable to secure any points in a pair of close losses on home ice.
“Obviously we did a lot of good things,” said head coach Terry Pavely. “But we also did some things that we need to correct. I thought it was good to play a team like that right off the get go because we know what the pace is going to be like against good teams for 60 minutes. We just talked about the inconsistency that we had throughout the game and yesterday. If we want to become a team that gives them a run at the end of the year we need to be more consistent over 60 minutes... Overall, we’re pretty pleased with the weekend. We’re not pleased with the outcome, but we’re pleased with a lot of things we did.”
Saturday, the Wildcats scored twice on the power play but lost 4-2.
Taylor Lind tallied to open the scoring the first period and Maddy Mccleary also scored in the third period. Lind and Ryleigh White added assists in the loss.
Grace Shirley, Abby Decorby, Anna Leschyshyn, and Jayda Sachs all scored for the Stars.
Arden Kliewer earned the win with 23 saves on 25 shots. Amaya Giraudier took the loss with 25 saves for the Wildcats.
Sunday, the Wildcats scored another three goals on the power play but let a couple of leads slip through their fingers in a 5-4 loss to the Stars.
The Wildcats got out to the ideal start when they got goals 13 seconds apart from Sara Kendall and Crystal Wale in the opening minutes.
The Stars responded with three goals over 2:08 to lead 3-2 after one period.
The Wildcats opened the second period with power play goals from Lind and Carissa Hogan to regain the lead, but Saskatoon scored twice before the end of the period to regain the lead before a scoreless third period.
The Wildcats finished threefor-seven on the man-advantage and were not whistled for a single infraction against a very physical Stars team.
Kliewer picked up a second win with 16 saves on 20 shots. Harper Davey made the start for the Wildcats and made seven saves on 10 shots. Giraudier worked the final 47:48 and made 14 saves on 16 shots.
Kendall, Lind, Kate Wagner, Kenedee Klevgaard, Layne Hryhoriw, and Baylee Kirwan all picked up assists for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats have 14 returnees and five newcomers this season.
“We’ve got a lot of depth up front and we like that. We think we have opportunities to score goals. You saw it again today, not many times in our league if you score four you lose, so obviously we have to do a better job of defending. We are real happy. Our forward group is really strong. I thought our D, especially for having a lot of new D this year, they held their own pretty good. It’s pretty hard when you’re facing kids like Shirley, Fiala, Jockims, Leschyshyn, shift after shift. That’s a tough test for D-men because they attack with speed and I thought our kids did a formidable job against that team.”
The Wildcats are on the road this weekend for the Pembina Valley Hawks Thanksgiving Tournament.
The Wildcats will be on the road to visit the Regina Rebels on October 13-14. Their next home game will be October 20 against the Notre Dame Hounds.
Pavely said they didn’t know a lot about the Rebels but expected to see them at the tournament this weekend.