After an exciting weekend in Swift Current, the Battlefords Sharks are eager to build off their momentum as the post-season begins.
The Sharks began their Saskatchewan Midget AAA Female Hockey League best-of-five quarter-final series with the Prince Albert Northern Bears Wednesday night in Prince Albert, with the second game taking place at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at the Battleford Arena.
“Our main goal was to finish the regular season on a strong note, and I think we did that,” Sharks head coach Gary Berggren said.
“We only got one win out of the last two weekends, but we had a chance to earn the two points in three out of the four games with Regina and Swift Current. We’re really coming together heading into the post-season.”
In their regular season finale Sunday afternoon, Ensley Fendelet scored a power-play goal in overtime as the Sharks picked up a 3-2 win over the Swift Current Wildcats.
“It was a really hard-fought game between both teams right until the end,” Berggren said.
“On the winning goal, one of our defenders (Maya Tupper) went wide and made a pass out in front of the net. One of our forwards (Ali Aitken) had her shot stopped by their goalie, but Ensley was their right alongside her to put in the rebound.”
Keera Tringer and Jordan Kulbida also scored for the Sharks, who received strong goaltending from Chantel Weller as she made 33 saves.
Janessa Fournier and Taylor Lind both had goals for the Wildcats in the loss.
The two teams did battle in a wild affair Saturday night, as the Sharks scored four goals in the third period to erase a 5-1 deficit before falling 6-5 to the Wildcats in overtime.
“A lot of teams would have caved in after going down by four goals, but our girls fought hard and they were rewarded by pushing it to overtime,” Berggren said. “Obviously we would have much rather won the game, but we were still pretty happy with how it turned out.
“We had some troubles slowing down one of their players (Lind) in the first two periods, but that changed after we made some adjustments during the intermission. All of a sudden, when we got an early goal in the third, it felt like all of the momentum switched to us.”
Aitken led the way on offence with two goals and an assist, while Kulbida and Layne Hryoriw both had two-point nights.
Tupper and Alyssa Roach also scored in the loss, which saw Weller make 42 saves.
Lind was impressive for the Wildcats Saturday, as the league’s leading scorer had three goals and set up two others.
Thanks to their win Sunday, the Sharks finished the season with a 7-19-2 record and placed seventh in the SFMAAAHL regular season standings to earn a date with the second ranked Bears.
The Bears, who have won their last four games and had a 22-6-0 regular season record, picked up victories over the Sharks in all four contests the two teams have had this year.
“They have an excellent power play so it’s very important for us to stay out of the penalty box,” Berggren said. “Our penalty kill has gotten a lot better lately, but in order for us to win this series, we need to play five-on-five hockey as much as possible.”
Following Saturday’s affair in Battleford, the two teams will travel to Prince Albert Sunday for the third game of the series.
If needed, a fourth game would take place in Battleford Monday at 8:30 p.m., while a fifth and deciding contest would occur in Prince Albert a night later.
“It’s a hectic schedule, but I think that will work in our favour a little bit,” Berggren said.
“Over the last three weeks, we’ve been doing a lot of conditioning drills and that is something that is always important to have in the playoffs.”
