The Parkland Lions Bantam girls’ hockey team kicked off 2015 with a tournament win in Prince Albert January 2-4.
The Lions competed in the Bantam / Midget A Division of the Prince Albert Foxes tournament. “The last time we skated as a team was at our last league game December 21 in Moose Jaw, so we wanted to use this tournament to skate off some of the Christmas turkey and get ready for the second half of our season and playoffs,” commented Lions coach Chad Holinaty.
The Lions opened up the round-robin portion of the tournament with a convincing 12-0 shutout over the Regina Capitals. “We were a bit surprised how well we skated, after having been off for almost two weeks,” shared coach Dean Shyiak.
Co-coach Kim Pennell then mentioned that the 12-0 shutout was even more impressive due to the fact that the team was skating with less blueliners than usua. “We were down to three defencemen Friday with Annika (Lachambre) being away and Tannis (Lubiniecki) injured, but our Hannah (Pennell), Cassidy (Entz), and Taylor (Halarewich) did a very good job of clearing our zone,” offered Pennell, adding that the best defence is a strong offence. “Offensively, we had nine different skaters find the net, so it was great to see all three lines contributing.”
Taylor Nagy picked up the shutout victory for the Lions.
Saturday’s schedule was a three-game marathon, beginning with an 8:00a.m. start against the North Battleford Sharks.
Nagy picked up her second shutout of the tournament en route to a 5-0 win. Lions captain Brooke Hausermann tallied a hat trick and chipped in two assists in the contest.
The 2:00p.m. game pitted the Lions against the home town Prince Albert Foxes.
Sierra Meroniuk tallied both of the Lions markers in a 2-2 tie with the Foxes.
The final game of Saturday’s triple-header saw the Lions take on the Saskatoon Comet Chaos.
The Lions skated away with a 6-1 win to end the round robin portion.
The win put the Lions in first place in the round robin, and pitted them in a rematch with the Prince Albert Foxes in the ‘A’ Final Sunday. “We weren’t surprised to see PA in the finals. They are a good, aggressive team,” offered Holinaty, continuing, “We felt that we controlled most of the play when we were 5 on 5.
“The two goals we gave up to them were both when we got into some penalty trouble and were in 5-on-3 penalty kill situations. We believed that if we kept our discipline and came out skating, we would be competitive.”
Hausermann’s first period marker was the lone goal as the teams entered the third period. “While the score was only 1-0, we felt like we had done a good job of limiting their chances and kept the puck in their zone most of the game,” mentioned coach Shyiak. “In the second period, we got a bit sloppy with the puck and turned it over more than we wanted. Going into the third period, we emphasized keeping our feet moving, trusting in our systems, and just going out and having fun.”
The Lions did just that, and a goal from Sidney Shyiak at the 9:19 mark of the final frame made it 2-0 for Parkland.
Jordan Holinaty tallied three minutes later to give the Lions a 3-0 lead, but penalty trouble again cost the Lions as the Foxes took advantage of a power play opportunity to make the score 3-1.
Holinaty added her second goal of the period late in the game to seal the ‘A’ Side victory for the Lions. “Looking back on the weekend, we were able to get in a good skate to help us get ready for our next league game January 10 in Regina,” said coach Holinaty. “We scored 29 goals in five games, and gave up only four goals. All four goals against were when we were short-handed, with two of them being when we were on 5-on-3 situations.
“Overall, it was a good weekend, giving us lots to celebrate but also a few things we need to work on and improve at in the second half of our season.”
The next Lions home game will be a weekend series in Springside on January 17 and 18 when they host the Wood River Ice Cats. Game times are 4:00p.m. Saturday, January 17 and 1:00p.m. Sunday, January 18.
