The Parkland Bantam Lions completed their South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League (SSFHL) regular season schedule with a perfect record of 22-0-0 following an 8-2 win over Estevan on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Austen Dubreuil led the Lions with a hat trick In their regular season finale. Jordan Holinaty added a pair of goals while Sierra Meroniuk, Hannah Pennell, and Brooke Hausermann chipped in solo markers on 40 Lions shots on net.
Goaltender Taylor Nagy blocked 16 Estevan shots en route to her 22nd win on the season. The Lions’ 22 regular season wins included an amazing 154 goals for with only 10 goals against and a record-setting 16 shutouts. “After the game we took a moment to recognize just what an accomplishment it is for a team to go undefeated in the regular season,” said Coach Chad Holinaty. “At the same time, we don’t want this to be our high point.
“We realize that playoffs are a whole different season, and we need to keep elevating our game if we want to advance.”
Holinaty wasn’t the only Parkland coach to suggest that, while an undefeated regular season is all well and good, it isn’t the main goal of their 2014/15 season. “The girls have had a great season, but our goal isn’t to be the champions of the regular season,” offered coach Kim Pennell, adding, “We have parts of our game as individuals and as a team we need to keep improving on if we want to make a long playoff run.”
Coach Dean Shyiak then identified a few examples of areas the team needs to improve upon. “We haven’t started games with the kind of energy and intensity we would like. The last two games, we’ve given up the first goal and had to play from behind.
“As well, our power play has struggled, so we need to spend some time working on our special teams.”
While the Lions await the start of their league playoffs, they have already completed the first round of the Bantam ‘A’ Provincial Playoffs. The Lions were matched up with the Regina Renegades.
The Lions won the two-game total goal series 9-1, following wins of 5-0 in Game One and 4-1 in Game Two. “The game scores don’t tell how close the games were,” noted Holinaty in regards to their first round Provincial series. “The first game was scoreless after two periods before the girls were able to find the back of the net. I thought we played really well, skated well, and controlled the play, but we just had a hard time getting that first goal.
“We were glad to see that the girls didn’t panic, but they kept with the system and finally were rewarded.”
Game Two saw Regina take the early lead before the Lions responded with four goals of their own. “We didn’t skate or play nearly as well as we did in Game One”, observed coachPennell. “Hopefully, we learned some lessons about the difference between the regular season and playoff hockey.”
The Lions next opponent will be the winner between Estevan and Weyburn.
