Northern Bears open playoffs Friday against Notre Dame

Photo by Nathan Reiter/Daily Herald. Sasha Malenfant (right) high fives teammate Jasmine Kohl (left) after a Bears goal during a game earlier this season at the Art Hauser Centre.

The 30-game regular season in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL) has come to a close and the Prince Albert Northern Bears are gearing up for their playoff matchup against the Notre Dame Hounds.

Prince Albert finished with the fifth seed posting a record of 9-18-1-2 in the regular season, good enough for 31 points. Notre Dame enters as the fourth seed posting a record of 17-8-1-4 for 57 points.

Northern Bears head coach Steve Young says that Prince Albert will have their hands full against Notre Dame.

“Notre Dame is a well-balanced hockey club. They work hard in all areas and it’s important, number one, that we go in there prepared to work for as much time as it takes us to win a hockey game. So, we’ll work on our work ethic, do the little things that we have to do to. We’ll be worrying about us and the things in our game that we have to do.”

The Hounds were led in scoring this season by Saint Anselm College commit Kyra Anderson, who posted 14 goals and eight assists across 18 games played. Against Prince Albert, Anderson posted seven points including three goals in just five games played.

On the blue line, the Hounds feature another Saint Anselm College commit anchoring the back end in defenseman Julianna Herman. Herman posted six points across five games against the Northern Bears, making up more than half of her season total of 10. Her season best performance came on Nov. 25 at the Art Hauser Centre with two goals and an assist in a 3-2 Notre Dame victory. Herman is the younger sister of Prince Albert Raider captain Evan Herman.

Prince Albert was led offensively in the regular season by Julia Cey, the 17-year-old forward posted 25 points across 29 games this season with 16 goals and nine assists. Cey registered four points, including three goals in the five game season series. Cey scored twice in a 4-2 Bears victory against Notre Dame on Nov. 26.

Between the pipes, Brooke Archer picked up both wins in goal for Prince Albert during the regular season series against Notre Dame, including in the Bears 3-2 shootout victory on Dec. 4. Archer made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, and stopped four of five Hound shooters in the shootout.  Archer appeared in 19 games this season, posting a record of 8-10, 3.13 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. All were career bests for the graduating netminder.

The SFU18AAAHL plays a best-of-three playoff format. Game 1 will be played on Friday night at Duncan McNeill Arena in Wilcox with the series shifting to Prince Albert for Game 2 on Sunday night at the Art Hauser Centre.

Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Head-to-head

Nov. 12 Prince Albert 2 @ Notre Dame 4

Nov. 13 Prince Albert 2 @ Notre Dame 3

Nov. 25 Notre Dame 3 @ Prince Albert 2

Nov. 26 Notre Dame 2 @ Prince Albert 4

Dec. 4 Prince Albert 3 @ Notre Dame 2 (SO)

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