Wildcats back in U18 AAA final after ousting Chiefs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2022 (1385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After the Westman Wildcats lost the first game of their Manitoba Female Hockey League Under-18 AAA semifinal series to the Yellowhead Chiefs by a score of 5-3 on March 4 in Shoal Lake, head coach Guy Williams felt like the team had let an opportunity slip away.

They made sure that wasn’t the case in their next three encounters with their regional rivals.

The third-seeded Wildcats clinched a spot in the league final for the first time since 2019 on Monday evening in Hartney as they defeated the second-ranked Chiefs by a score of 3-1 and wrapped up their best-of-five encounter in four games.

“We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be when the series got underway,” Williams said. “We were a little sloppy in a couple of areas and the Chiefs took advantage of that in the third period of Game 1.

“When you go up against good teams all the time like we do in this league, that only makes your group better. Our kids rose to the challenge against Yellowhead. They were committed to shot blocking and doing the right things when it came to game management and putting the puck into safe areas. If you do that on a consistent basis, you are going to come out with the win more often than not.”

After dropping the series opener, the Wildcats picked up a 3-0 win at home on March 6 and prevailed in a 3-2 double overtime affair Saturday in Shoal Lake.

Going into Monday’s contest, Williams knew that the Chiefs were going to put forward a strong effort in the opening minutes, especially with their season being on the line.

“It’s like when an animal gets cornered,” Williams said. “They are prepared to fight back.

“We had a bit of a short-term bump with (former Wildcat and 2022 Olympic gold medalist) Ashton (Bell) being here for the ceremonial puck drop, but we didn’t have anywhere near the jump that Yellowhead had at the start of the game. Once we recovered though, we started to get a good feeling on the bench.”

The one constant in the Wildcats playoff success has been the play of goaltender Grace Glover, who turned aside 102 Chiefs shots during the semifinal.

Glover, who is a Grade 11 student from Boissevain, has posted a 6-1 record with an 1.52 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage and two shutouts thus far in the post-season.

“I told her tonight (Monday) that a big blocker save she made in the third period was a huge reason why we won this game,” Williams said.

“Grace isn’t the biggest goalie but she doesn’t give up a ton of rebounds and she does a great job of making sure that we can control the play and not allow the other team to get sustained offensive pressure. She also gets a lot of help from her teammates as they make sure that the shooting areas are covered and that most of their shots are coming from the outside.”

The Wildcats also had a balanced offensive attack against the Chiefs, with Brooklyn Franklin, Hayley Kolosky and playoff scoring leader Callie Rice posting four points each.

Sophia Anderson, Hallie Franklin, Karlyn Gudz and Kelsey Huibers recorded three points in the series for the third-overall seed.

While the Wildcats were celebrating in their dressing room, the second-ranked Chiefs were left to wonder what could have been as they saw their title hopes end in the semifinal round for the third straight post-season.

“It was a good battle and it really could have gone either way,” Chiefs head coach Derek Tibbatts said. “Westman has a great goalie and we got a lot of pucks on their net, but we just didn’t get the lucky bounces.

“I think the turning point was Game 3 at home. When (Rice) scored the winner in the second overtime, that really took the wind out of our sails a bit. If we had gotten the win there, I think we’re looking a totally different series.”

Trynity Turner paced the Chiefs on offence with four points in the semifinal, while Callie Maguire and Abigail McKinnon had three points each.

As they did in the opening round of the playoffs, Sidney McMullan and Natalie Rampton split time between the pipes and combined to make 99 saves.

Monday’s contest was the final one in a Chiefs uniform for goaltender McMullan and blue-liners Louise Fergusson and Josie Nichols, along with forwards Levi Derkatch, Kora Tibbatts, Darbi Poole, Maguire and McKinnon, who are all aging out of the league.

Of the graduating group, McMullan (NAIT Ooks), Maguire (Midland University Warriors), Nichols (NAIT) and Fergusson (Manitoba Bisons) have committed to play for post-secondary programs next fall.

“There are some great players that are going to be leaving us but I know that they are going to do a great job at the next level,” Tibbatts said.

“When it comes to our returning players, I think they learned that there’s another level you need to be at once the playoffs begin. It’s completely different from the regular season and they saw what it takes in order to move on. You need to play tougher, grittier and bare down on your chances.”

While the Chiefs prepare for the 2022-23 campaign, the Wildcats are waiting to find out who they’ll face in the best-of-five championship series, which is expected to start next weekend.

The top-ranked Winnipeg Avros and the fourth-seeded Winnipeg Ice play the fifth and deciding game in their semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon at the Seven Oaks Arena.

» lpunkari@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @lpunkari