The Estevan bantam A Power Dodge Chargers earned a nail-biting win and suffered a lopsided loss in their first two games of the season.
The Chargers began the year with a last minute 3-2 win over the Moose Jaw Mavericks at the Civic Auditorium on Saturday before falling 7-3 in another home tilt against the same Mavericks the next afternoon.
Kent McLellan, head coach of the Chargers, said the difference between the two games is simply that they scored on their opportunities in the first match and the Mavericks scored on theirs in the second. He said they played better defensively on Saturday and suffered a few breakdowns the next day leading to the the unflattering final result.
“We did some good things on the ice (Sunday) and we played a little better than what the score was,” said McLellan. “We just didn't bury our chances when we had them.”
The Chargers grouped their scoring in the middle of the 7-3 loss. With Moose Jaw leading 3-0, Chargers' forward Kenzie Balon got Estevan on the board at the 16:25 mark of the second period.
Balon got her second of the night one minute into the third before Ireland Biette, with an assist from Balon, tied up the game at threes fifteen seconds later. The Mavericks stepped up the pressure after the tying goal and scored four unanswered on Chargers' goaltender Ayja Hegland to end the game.
One day earlier, the Chargers' Marci LeBlanc replied for Estevan a little over five minutes into the second period to tie the game at 1-1. She scored her second of the match on the power play with 7:28 left in the middle frame to give Estevan a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
After the Mavericks tied up the game 12 minutes into the final period, Balon put the Chargers up for good with 1:33 left in the game. Estevan's Myan Battersby earned the win between the pipes.
McLellan said the home series was a good opportunity for the team to start working on their systems and on what they need to excel at in order to have a successful season. He said they only have 10 skaters on the team this year, with nine of them rookies, so a lot of work is needed to get everybody on the same page moving forward.
“With any team, whether they are rookies or not, we always want to play a moving the puck, good breakouts, control and playing in their end instead of ours (game),” he said. “It's a simple way to put it. If the puck is in their end it's hard to score goals on us. But just moving the puck and letting the girls understand that if they pass the puck, they don't have to skate as hard (and) they don't get as tired.”
The Chargers have experienced varying levels of success in the past depending on what group they were able to put on the ice. McLellan said this year's squad should be one of the better ones when they display in games what they're learning in practice.
“If everybody comes to the rink everyday ready to play then we'll do just fine,” he said. “I don't expect to be a first place (team) and I don't expect to be last place. If the girls come and play their game they'll do well.”
