My name is Madison Solie, from Sedley and I play defense on the Weyburn Southern Range Gold Wings. We started off playoffs by playing the fifth-place Regina Rebels and won our first playoff series with a three game sweep.
Our second round of playoffs started on March 7 in Saskatoon against the Saskatoon Stars. We had a tough start with a 5-0 loss. Saskatoon had finished first in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League and is by far our biggest competition in the league.
We competed hard in this game, but had some problems creating offense and the results did not give us proper justice for our hard work. Throughout the week we worked hard on different systems targeted towards beating their over-aggressive style of play.
Along with our busy practice week, the great rink guys were also working hard getting the brand new ice surface in, and the rink ready for the Esso Cup. This was very exciting for us as it really brings to reality how close the national tournament is. We played our first game on the new ice on March 11, in our second game against Saskatoon and came out with a victory.
It was a very exciting, and intense game that kept everyone on the edge of their seats until we won in double over-time. The fans were going crazy as I passed the puck up to a breaking Bailee Bourassa, she beat the defense and headed in on a breakaway with a perfect top shelf tuck for the 1-0 finish.
It was a moment every athlete strives to be a part of, which is to work so incredibly hard, with fans dedicated to the very end and come out with successful results. With the series all tied up, we headed into game three on March 13 in Saskatoon. The team was confident going into this game as we had went over important game strategy from the video of the previous two games. However, the game started off on the wrong foot, as they got up two goals on us with the second goal being counted even though it had not even gone in the net. In the second period we were resilient and Bailee Bourassa tied the game up with two top shelf shots. We battled hard throughout the third period but couldn’t seem to finish them off. The game once again headed into double overtime, but this time we were unable to come out with the win as a quick defensive zone breakdown resulted in them capitalizing and ending the game.
Game four was held March 15, with the Saskatoon Stars winning 2-0 over the Gold Wings to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
