First place versus eighth place, undefeated versus winless, the Notre Dame Hounds versus the Battlefords Sharks, that was the round one match up for the Sharks and they are now facing elimination heading into action Saturday.
Tuesday in Wilcox, the Sharks held off the Hounds attack in the first period and escaped down just 1-0. The Hounds added five goals in the second and four in the third to grab the 10-0 win.
Notre Dame fired 62 shots at Jacy Akre while the Sharks mustered 11 at Victoria Smishek. Notre Dame capitalized on seven of 11 powerplays while the Sharks were unsuccessful on five powerplay opportunities.
Brooke Wilgosh had a five-point night for the Hounds while Taylor Woods, Brittany Berisoff, Natasha Kostenko, Daniella Matteucci and Julia Flinton all had three-point efforts.
Wednesday night didn't get any easier for the Sharks, as they travelled home from Wilcox after an 8 p.m. game and were back in action 23 hours later at the Battleford Arena.
The Hounds scored two early powerplay goals and never looked back taking a 5-0, lead after one period, 11-0 after 40 minutes and a 14-0 decision.
Jacy Akre and Hannah Brock switched in and out of the Sharks' net, together facing 61 shots. Akre stopped 31 while Brock turned away 16 Notre Dame chances.
Like game one the Sharks were in some penalty trouble and gave up seven powerplay goals on 12 opportunities and were 0/5 on their powerplays.
Woods, the Hounds' captain, had a six-point night with Krista Metz, Flinton and Wilgosh chipping in four to lead the Notre Dame offence. When all was said and done, all 14 Notre Dame players had a point.
The Hounds' roster, which contains no first year players, matches up against a Sharks' roster that has just three third year players with the majority of the team playing in their first season in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League.
The Hounds, who were 27-0-1-0 during the regular season, can put the series away Saturday on home ice against the 0-26-2-0 Sharks.
