The Estevan Power Tech midget AA Panthers quest for a provincial title came to an end in the final round for the second straight year. The Saskatoon Comet Legends defeated the Panthers 3-1 on Saturday at Affinity Place to take the two-game, total-point series 7-5, and win the provincial championship. Last year it was the West Central Wheat Kings who defeated the Panthers in the provincial final. The Panthers came out strong in Game 2 against the Comet Legends, and peppered Legends goaltender Kieran McKercher with shots in the first 15 minutes of the game. They were
finally rewarded with less than six minutes to play in the first period when Marci LeBlanc scored to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead in the game, and a 5-4 advantage in the series. “We got the first goal, and we were pretty pumped,” said Panthers coach Trevor Morrison. “We just didn’t get very long to get the momentum and keep going.” Just a couple of minutes after LeBlanc’s goal, Sarah Patel tallied to tie the game and the series, and with 67 seconds left in the first, Ruby Bayer scored to give the Legends a lead they would never surrender. The second period was
scoreless. Saskatoon had chances to add to the advantage, most notably midway through the frame when they fired four shots within a few seconds at Panthers goaltender Morgan Fayle, but Fayle stopped each scoring attempt. A goal by Brooklyn Rawley early in the third period gave Saskatoon the two-goal advantage they were looking for. “Our good chances just didn’t go in the net,” said Morrison. “We had some chances. We missed the net again. We had some high-end shots, we had some screens, but we missed the net.” Morrison said he is pleased with the progress
shown by the team this season. They have a lot of players who travel from out of town to Estevan to play each week, and the players managed to balance school with hockey. “It’s hats off to the girls,” said Morrison. “They put in their time and they got along well.” The Panthers have
three players who will graduate this season – Michaella Matthies, Kamryn Friars and Ashton Magotiaux. Morrison is hopeful all the players eligible to return next season will be back. “We played with four defencemen most of the year, and we could have
used two more defencemen, because those poor girls get tired on the backend,” said Morrison. “We played with what we got.” The first-year players made a lot of strides this season, he said, and they grasped the team’s systems. Morrison is hopeful this year’s experiences will pay off in 2017-18.
