Although the results might not have shown it, the Battlefords Sharks proved that they could compete with one of the highest scoring teams in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League last weekend.
The Sharks made their way to the provincial capital for a pair of games with the Regina Rebels, where they fell in a pair of 7-2 affairs.
Saturday’s contest at the Co-Operators Centre saw the Sharks get off to a strong start, as Jordan Kulbida gave her team an early lead.
“That was probably our best period of the entire season,” Sharks head coach Gary Berggren said.
“That all came from having a strong work ethic and understanding what they needed to on their defensive zone coverage. We got off to a tough start in the second period but the girls responded with a power play goal to take the lead back.”
After Jessie Herner scored a power play goal for the Sharks, the Rebels turned up the wick offensively as Kennedy Bobyck had three goals and her teammate Lauren Focht found the net twice.
“They have a couple of players on offence that are really hard to stop, and we didn’t work hard enough in the second and third period to try and slow them down,” Berggren said.
“We also had a short bench with eight forwards and four defenders, which made things pretty tough as they game went on.”
Bobyck continued her strong play Sunday afternoon as she and teammates Miranda Hatt and Brooklyn Stevely each had three point showings in a 7-2 victory.
“There are times in the course where you take a step forward or a step back, and that was definitely a step back,” Berggren said.
“We weren’t battling and competing enough and it showed in the final score. The shots were a lot closer, but that doesn’t necessarily show how the game was.”
Lezza Potratz and Kulbida both scored in the loss.
The Sharks, who now have a 5-13-1 record this season, will be back on the road Friday night as they will take on the Notre Dame Hounds.
The two teams will also play again in Wilcox Saturday afternoon.
“It’s been a long time since we played them to start off the season.” Berggren said. “We felt like we should have the win in both games, especially when we went to a shootout the second time we played them that weekend.
“You don’t want to look at the standings that much, but we have a chance to jump them in the standings with a pair of wins. With that said, we need to be prepared to work in both games in order to have a good showing.”
The Sharks will return to the Battleford Arena on Jan. 29 to play the Melville Prairie Fire, which will come a day after a game between the two sides in Radisson.
“We’re really looking forward to that game,” Berggren said. “We’ve thrown around the idea of having a game or two in the smaller towns in the area, and we have Keara Amson who is from Raddison on the team this year, so it proved to be a good fit.”
