The Prince Albert Northern Bears left everything they had out on the ice.
Prince Albert saw their season come to a close with a 2-1 triple overtime loss to the Swift Current Wildcats on Sunday night at the Art Hauser Centre.
Northern Bears head coach Steve Young says Prince Albert played a strong game, but fell just short.
“I thought we deserved better. I thought the girls came into this year and into this series to play and work hard and that’s not taking anything away from Swift Current. We did a lot of good things, we had chances, we had bounces and there’s a lot of sad girls in that dressing room right now.”
With the win on Sunday, Swift Current captured the best-of-three first round playoff series two games to none after defeating the Bears 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night in Swift Current.
Throughout the season, the Wildcats and Northern Bears have played tight contests against each other. Young says Prince Albert was expecting a tight series going into the playoffs.
“From day one against Swift Current, we’ve had close, tough games. We know that was going to be no different in this series. It’s 1-0 until late in the game and we scored to tie and that’s what has gone on all year. I feel sorry for that group of players in that room right now because I felt that they deserved better.”
Swift Current would open the scoring at the 9:18 mark as Charlize Hillmer would beat Annika Neufeldt clean with a wrist shot from the left wing. The goal was unassisted.
Hillmer’s goal proved large as the Bears would push for the equalizer and had several great chances throughout the first and second period.
Prince Albert outshot the Wildcats 27-14 over the first forty minutes of play. Despite the lack of success in breaking through on the scoreboard, Young says he saw a lot of positives from the Bears.
“It’s not easy. As coaches you see us working, you see us pushing hard, you see a lot of production happening and that puck’s not bouncing the right way. You just gotta keep giving them confidence, tell them they’re doing the right things and hope for the best.”
Londyn Hoffman would finally get Prince Albert on the board with 2:55 left to go in regulation, finding a loose puck and sliding it five hole past Jordyn Ottenbreit. Marly Dumanski and Jersie Andersen had the assists on the play.
Sixty minutes would solve nothing and the two teams would head to sudden death overtime. Neither team would score in the first 10 minute overtime period. As the game wore on, both coaches deployed their players in short shifts in order to keep their lineups fresh in a marathon game.
Young says playing a long game presents a challenge for the coaching staff.
“It presents a few challenges. You’re used to playing a three period hockey game and now when you go into more periods, you’ve got to make sure you manage your ice, you’ve got to manage your players and manage the game. It’s not only counting what we have, it’s what the opposition is doing with their numbers as well. I thought both benches managed their game well in the series and congratulations to Swift Current for moving on.”
Swift Current would score less than two minutes into the third overtime with the goal coming from an unlikely hero.
Laynee Rondeau only dressed for a total of four games for the Wildcats this season as an underage affiliate player. She would score the overtime winner with Alexa Kobley and Kyla Benjamin picking up the assists.
Both goaltenders played strong games with Annika Neufeldt turning aside 39 of 41 Swift Current shots in her final career U18 AAA game. Jordyn Ottenbreit made 44 stops in the winning effort for the Wildcats.
Sunday’s game marked the last game at the U18 AAA level for nine graduating players for the Northern Bears. Marly Dumanski, Caprice Harder, Elizabeth Udell, Annika Neufeldt, Mikiya Anderson, Ella Clarke, Nikita Krayetski and Zayda Summach will all graduate from the team.
Young says he wishes the best for all of the team’s graduating players.
“First of all, they’re all world-class players and citizens. It’s not easy, you come in here at a young age and think it’s going to be forever and all of a sudden it’s your last year. I’m very proud of the girls that are going to be graduating and moving on in life, they’re going to be very successful in whatever they do, and you can tell that by the way they handle themselves and handle themselves with this hockey team.”
