It was a successful weekend for the Prince Albert Northern Bears as they picked up a pair of wins on the road against the Weyburn Gold Wings and the Notre Dame Hounds.
Northern Bears assistant coach Drew Ferster says the team deserved two points in both games.
“It was a great weekend for the girls. They worked hard and they are starting the game the right way and really coming together as a team. They are learning that if they do that, it will result in positive things which is wins for us.”
The Northern Bears started off the weekend with a 3-1 win over the Weyburn Red Wings at Crescent Neil Place.
Weyburn opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from Sydney Dauvin with 14:46 to go in the opening frame.
The Bears would get on the board in the dying seconds of the opening period as Claudia Lammers would beat Hailey Sibbald to even up the score at 1-1 after twenty minutes.
Neither team would score in the second period and the shots favoured the visiting Northern Bears 9-5.
Prince Albert would get the game winning goal with 12:36 remaining in the third period off the tape of Jasmine Kohl. Bree Purcell picked up the lone assist on the goal.
An insurance marker would come from Julia Cey’s empty net goal with just 14 seconds remaining.
The Northern Bears would take the momentum from Saturday’s win to Wilcox and their matchup against the Notre Dame Hounds. The Bears and Hounds have played close games all season long with all five matchups being decided by one goal or less.
Both teams would trade goals in the opening frame as Mya Kubrakovich opening the scoring just 14 seconds into the game. Taelyr Ballard would answer for Prince Albert less than a minute later. The goal was Ballard’s first career marker in the SFU18AAAHL.
The Bears would take the lead with the lone goal scored in the second period coming on the power play. Kelsey Ledoux would pot one past Hounds netminder Schay Camphaug to give Prince Albert a 2-1 advantage after two periods of play.
Notre Dame would tie the game with 11:55 remaining in the third period with an unassisted goal from Maisie Kozak.
Three periods and overtime were not enough to decide a winner between the two sides as a shootout was needed.
After the first shooter for the Hounds Kyra Anderson was able to beat Bears netminder Brooke Archer in the opening round, the veteran netminder was able to stand tall stopping the other four shooters for Notre Dame to earn the shootout win for the Bears.
Ferster says the game had the intensity of more than just a regular season game.
“It felt like a playoff game. The girls were cutthroat and they just kept playing through with no quit. They tied it up and we kept going at it. It was an exciting game both ways and it’s exciting to get the win.”
With the wins over the weekend, the Bears extended their winning streak to three.
Ferster adds that the Bears are looking to go into the Christmas break on a positive note.
“We had a five-game stretch before Christmas that started last week. Our goal was to get all five and we got three out of the five. Two left and if we keep playing the right way and working hard in practice, our plan is to get those two as well.”
The Northern Bears return to action on Saturday, Dec. 17 when they welcome the Swift Current Wildcats for a weekend series. Puck drops at 1:30 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
