The Parkland Midget AA Lions female hockey team split a pair of weekend games against its Regina counterparts in the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League (SSFHL) on the weekend.
On December 12, the Lions hosted the Regina Capitals in Churchbridge. The Lions were coming off a one-win, four-losses performance at the Regina Female Challenge tournament December 4-6.
“The first game of the tournament was probably the best game we’ve played all season” said Lions coach Chad Holinaty. “We skated well, competed for the puck, and probably had our best passing game of the season.
“It looked like we finally figured out how we need to compete,” he said. “Unfortunately for the Lions, that game marked the high point of the tournament weekend.
“Our next games were all close games, but we didn’t have the kind of urgency to compete at the level we needed to be successful.”
For the Capitals, a shootout-loss in the tournament final provided them a high level of confidence in returning to league play.
“We knew they were coming off a good weekend and they would be looking to carry that momentum against us,” said Dean Shyiak, assistant coach. “We were looking forward to having McKenna (Davis) return from a broken collarbone. We also had a few players injured in the tournament.”
Injuries forced the Lions to move defenseman Sam Mayer to centre.
“Sam did a great job of just competing hard for the puck, said Kim Pennell, assistant coach. “She might not have been familiar with some of the positional play, but she made up for it by just competing hard and bringing some energy when we needed it.
Kyra Sorenson tallied both Lions markers in a 2-1 win.
“Kyra is a consistent worker, so it was great to see her hard work get rewarded with a couple of goals,” said Tim Davis, assistant coach. “Taylor (Nagy) made some big saves early in the game until we got our legs moving and got into the flow of the game.”
Saturday’s win set up a Sunday afternoon match up with the first-place Regina Ravens.
“The Ravens are a well-coached, highly competitive, and skilled team,” said Holinaty. “Early in the season, they absolutely dominated us in a 9-2 win. To the credit of our girls, we were able to respond with a 3-2 win against the Ravens the last time we played them, giving the Ravens their only loss on the season.
“To be honest, they dominated us in shots and puck possession, but our team found a way to hold on for the win,” he said. This game would be a chance to see where we stand in this league.”
The Lions opened the scoring on a tally by Olivia Gordon, only to see the Ravens respond with the next three goals. McKenna Davis redirected a point shot from Chace Sperling to bring the Lions to within a goal after two periods. Unfortunately for the Lions, that was as close as they could get before the Ravens tacked on a third period marker to make it a 4-2 final win for the Ravens.
“The game had a lot of penalties, and it was hard to get into a real flow,” said Pennell. “I thought the girls competed pretty well and are making progress. When the game was five on five, I thought we did a better job of clearing our zone and getting possession in their end.
“We definitely have lots to work on, but we’re on the right track,” he said.
“With three more games before Christmas, we’re looking forward to a few quality practices and having our full line-up in place,” Holinaty said. “We haven’t had one game this year with our full roster dressed, so we’re excited about that possibility.”
The Lions host Swift Current in Churchbridge December 19 and 20 before travelling to Regina for a rematch with the Capitals on December 23.ol
