The Estevan peewee A Vipers have taken the upper hand in the best-of-three South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League Final.
The Vipers scored three times in the opening four minutes of the third period to defeat the host Moose Jaw Mavericks 3-2 in Game 1 of the best-of-three series on Monday night.
Moose Jaw had the only goal in the first two periods, as Kaitlyn Gilory scored with 75 seconds left in the period.
Coach Chris Terrett said the coaches addressed the players after the second period, and told them they had done everything they could for the Vipers. Then the coaches left the room.
“Then some of our second-year girls stood up, and they took over the room,” said Terrett. “I don’t know what was said, or who said it or anything, but they came out in the third period like it was a completely different team.”
McKenna Walls scored to tie the game at ones 35 seconds into the third period. Hannah Terrett scored 69 seconds later to give the Vipers a 2-1 lead, and Walls added her second of the game less than two minutes after Terrett’s goal.
Moose Jaw’s Ellie Gauvin scored with 19.7 seconds left to round out the scoring.
“I said to the coaches after the game that if we could bottle up that third period, and the energy that they showed, and give it to them before the first period of our next game, it would be over before it even started,” said Terrett.
The win came one night after the Vipers hopes of winning a provincial title came to an end. They were defeated 18-2 by the Midwest Red Wings, based out of Turtleford, in a two-game, total-point series.
The Red Wings took Game 1 8-1 on Friday night in Turtleford, and Game 2 10-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Civic Auditorium.
“They were everywhere,” said Terrett. “They were buzzing all over the ice.”
Walls had the goal in Game 1, which came 9:15 into the game and gave the Vipers a 1-0 lead before the Red Wings took over. Caydence Chapman had Estevan’s goal in Game 2.
Despite the lopsided losses, Terrett praised the efforts of goaltender Chloe Sorenson. She was also great against the Mavericks.
“I think in the first game they (the Red Wings) had 85 shots on goal, and in the second game they had 60 shots for sure after the second period,” said Terrett. “She’s been awesome. Even in this game here (against the Mavericks), she had two or three game-savers for us.”
The Vipers have a chance to wrap up the league final Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium. Terrett hopes to see a big crowd for the game.
Game 3, if necessary, would be Saturday afternoon in Moose Jaw.
