The Prince Albert Northern Bears saw their regular season come to a conclusion over the weekend, splitting their final two games on the road against the Notre Dame Hounds and Weyburn Gold Wings.
Prince Albert defeated the Hounds 2-1 in double overtime on Saturday before falling 4-3 to the Weyburn Gold Wings on Sunday afternoon.
Northern Bears head coach Steve Young says he liked the way the weekend went for Prince Albert.
“Both those teams Weyburn and Notre Dame, we just continue to play close games against them for whatever reason and that’s obviously good for the league, not always good for the coaches. Those two teams, we seem to play tight and I thought for a hockey club, it was important to win that one in Notre Dame and had some chances in Weyburn to come back near the end too.”
In Saturday’s contest, the Bears would fall behind as Notre Dame would open the scoring at the 11:34 mark of the second period as Kiara Perrett would strike on the power play. Kate Williams and Maisie Kozak picked up the helpers.
Marly Dumanski would tie the game with 3:43 remaining in the final frame. Ella Clarke and Mikiya Anderson had the helpers on the play.
After sixty minutes and the first overtime period solved nothing, the two teams would head into double overtime.
Dumanski would be the hero for Prince Albert burying her second of the game with 4:23 left in the second extra frame. Jersie Andersen had the lone helper.
Annika Neufeldt would earn the win in net for Prince Albert making 38 saves in the winning effort.
In Sunday’s game, the Bears would open the scoring with a power play goal at the 10:23 mark of the opening frame. Marly Dumanski would continue her hot weekend picking up the goal. Mikiya Anderson had the lone helper.
Nola Exner would tie the game for Weyburn at the 5:37 mark. Liv Peck and Jade Olszewski picked up the helpers.
The Gold Wings would take a two goal lead heading into the third period after a pair of goals in the middle frame.
Jade Olszewski would strike at the 12:03 mark on the power play. Kaitlyn Mah and Kinley Dammann had the helpers.
Peyton Halayka would score on a penalty shot just over a minute later.
Dumanski’s second goal of the contest coming on the power play at the 8:23 mark would bring the Bears within just one. Jersie Anderson had the lone helper.
Nola Exner’s second goal of the game would expand the Weyburn lead to two with 43 seconds to go in regulation. Olszewski and Julia Durr had the helpers.
Dumanski would finish off her first career U18 AAA hat trick with her third goal of the contest coming with 14 seconds left. Mikiya Anderson was credited with the helper.
Young says it was a career weekend for Dumanski and he hopes she continues her strong play into the playoffs.
“We scored five goals on the weekend and she scored all five. It was a big weekend for her. She’s been someone that’s just progressed here from day one. She’ll be rewarded down the way, obviously with some sort of schooling with it, but she is a big part of our team and we’re going to need her in the playoff stretch here.”
At the conclusion of their 30 game regular season schedule, Prince Albert finished in fifth place with a record of 10 wins, 15 regulation losses, 2 overtime wins and 3 overtime losses.
Young says he wasn’t sure where the Bears were going to end up but says the final weekend provided a good test for Prince Albert heading into the playoffs.
“Going into the final weekend, we knew that we weren’t exactly sure where we were going to be in the playoffs or who we were playing. I thought the team played good. I thought the Weyburn game we had our chances just didn’t seem to capitalize on them. So all in all, I think it’s a good weekend for confidence going into the playoffs.”
The Bears return to action on Saturday, Mar. 8 when they begin the playoffs on the road against the Swift Current Wildcats. Puck drops at 7:45 p.m.
