The Prince Albert Northern Bears earned a split on the road in Swift Current over the weekend.
The Bears were on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision on Saturday night before taking a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon against the Wildcats.
In Saturday’s game, Swift Current would start out strong taking a 2-0 lead after the first period. Reese Kampen opened the scoring with 15:40 to go in the opening frame with an assist from Kara Bergen.
“We responded after our first game on Saturday and came out stronger. I thought in our game on Saturday, we did get stronger as the game went on, but it wasn’t constant. The next game on Sunday, I thought we were more consistent and more hungry.”
Just 30 seconds later, Kaylee Williams would double the Wildcat lead with her second goal of the season. Bergen and Madden Rublee assisted on the play.
Swift Current outshot Prince Albert 16-6 in the opening stanza.
After a scoreless second period, the Bears would pull back within one with 10:27 to go in regulation thanks to Marly Dumanski’s third goal of the season. Jersie Anderson and Aliya Clarke provided the helpers.
The Bears would push for the equalizer, but they couldn’t solve Prince Albert product Ashley Vezeau who made 25 saves for Swift Current.
In Sunday’s contest, Prince Albert would take a lead after the first period as Dumanski’s fourth goal of the season with 11:51 to go would open the scoring. Zayda Summach and Jersie Anderson assisted on the play.
Zoey Krienke would double the Bears lead with her third goal of the season with 10:25 to go in the middle frame. Aliya Clarke and Caprice Harder assisted on the play.
The Bears lead would be extended to three with 12:44 to go in the third period as Jersie Anderson would strike for her second goal of the season. Zayda Summach assisted on the play.
Swift Current would cut into the deficit with 5:34 to go as Kyla Benjamin would find the back of the net. Alexa Kobley and Kara Bergen assisted on the play.
Mikiya Anderson would seal the deal with an empty net goal for Prince Albert with just six seconds to go.
Annika Neufeldt made 27 stops to earn the win on Sunday. The Bears also got a strong 35 save performance out of Nikita Krayetski on Saturday night.
Both netminders are set to graduate from the Bears program at the end of the season. Young says both goalies are having their hard work pay off.
“That’s important and a credit to both of them. They’ve both been working hard and doing the things that they need to do. They have experience now. They’re the older players in the league, so they understand the league. But at the same time, they continue to work hard in practice and game and it’s paying dividends for both of them.”
Another key to success for the Northern Bears was the strength of their penalty killing unit. In total, Prince Albert held Swift Current scoreless in six opportunities with an extra skater.
Young credits his coaching staff and the buy-in from the players in making the unit successful.
“That’s very important. I think that any team you play, there’s going to be close hockey games, so the specialty teams become crucial, and that’s one thing that we have been fairly consistent on is our penalty kill. I think Scott (Reed) and Colten (Smith) do a good job in setting up the plan for the games and the girls have responded well to it.”
The Bears will return home for their next game on Nov. 16 when they welcome the two-time defending league champion Regina Rebels. Prince Albert has gone more then a month without playing at home after starting the season with a weekend series at the Art Hauser Centre against Swift Current on Sept. 28-29.
Young says the extended period of time away from the Art Hauser has been great for the team to gel early in the season.
“I think the more the team can be together and go through the wins and losses on the road and the travel and all that makes you stronger. We don’t want to schedule it that way, but that’s usually the way it ends up just because of things that go on in our facilities. I think it’s important that we do get back home though on our ice and be very strong. Hopefully we’ve learned some lessons on the road and can take it into our home games.”
