When you need some goals, it’s a good idea to have Marci LeBlanc on your team.
Down 3-1 in the third, the Estevan Power Tech Bear Cats used grit and determination to score three goals and power past the Regina Capitals Sunday afternoon in Game 2 at Affinity Place and into the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League’s midget AA final — and it was LeBlanc’s breakaway goal with 2:23 on the clock that ended up being the game winner for the Bear Cats.
“It was scary, going down, you’ve got two minutes left to win or else you have to play Game 3,” said LeBlanc, the team captain who leads the Bear Cats with seven goals in four playoff games so far. “I was lucky I guess. You get down there, make a move and hope that it works. You pick a corner.”
It worked for LeBlanc like much has this season. It wasn’t a lack of first chances that stopped the Bear Cats from scoring earlier but it was patience that finally allowed them to beat Regina’s Sawyer Duncan in net.
The Bear Cats (16-9-3) got a power play goal from Starla Mann at 7:09 of the third, an even strength marker from Jasynn Monteyne at 11:30 to set the scene for LeBlanc’s goal. Getting back after being down required a positive attitude.
“We just had kind of a rougher start,” said LeBlanc. “We knew if we worked as a team and got moving, we’d get ‘er back. We came out with a positive attitude.”
The Capitals were ‘taking it’ to the Bear Cats for the first 40 minutes Sunday, according to head coach Trevor Morrison.
“But you know what, our goalie’s part of the team too and she held us in,” Morrison said. “We had a good chat about (how) we need to play with whoever’s in the dressing room. We had a couple of injuries. But our goal for the last part of the year is that there’s no numbers, it’s all one colour. So we play as one unit. No one’s in trouble, no one’s taking the lead, it’s just… we’re all one. I thought in the third period, we showed that. That’s what good teams do.”
LeBlanc gets more breakaways than any other member of the team, Morrison said.
“We said it from the bench, it was going in,” he said. “We knew.”
Estevan had beaten the Capitals (19-8-1) by a 3-1 score in Regina Friday in the first game of their best-of-three. LeBlanc scored twice there as well, and Karli Colpitts got the other marker. Bear Cats goaltender Morgan Fayle stopped all but one Regina shot.
The Bear Cats will play the Regina Ravens (24-1-3) in the league final, with games likely starting next weekend although the time has yet to be determined. The Ravens haven’t lost in the league since Oct. 5, 2017 although the Bear Cats did manage a 2-2 tie with them on Dec. 23, 2017.
“Everybody knows the Ravens’ record and they probably are the top dog in the league,” said Morrison. “We’re probably the underdog, let’s say. But as I was told as a young kid, every dog needs to eat. She’s a 50-50 chance going in. We had a one-in-eight (chance) when we started this year and right now we’ve got the same chance the Ravens do.”
