The Swift Current Innovation Federal Credit Union Wildcats did everything but score on Wednesday night. Swift Current outplayed maybe the best female U18 AAA hockey team in Canada, but they couldn't beat undefeated goaltender Aura Sembalerus. Sarah McNabb finally broke a scoreless tie for the Battlefords in the third period, and they held on to win their first Fedoruk Cup as SFU18AAAHL champions. Related Stories: Wildcats continue championship series on home ice Sharks strike first over Wildcats in championship series Wildcats eliminate Regina to reach league final "Unfortunately, that's sports sometimes," said Wildcats Head Coach Terry Pavely. "We were probably the better team tonight for the majority of the game. Their goalie, she was really good. You put 34 shots on net and you don't score. It's obviously tough to win. "But the way we played tonight with our backs against the wall..." Undefeated goalie leads Sharks Sembalerus's shutout victory moved her record to 18-0 between the 2025-26 regular season and playoffs. Ermilee Klapak made 18 saves on the 20 Battlefords shots she faced for the Wildcats. Swift Current outshot the Sharks 9-3 in the first period and 16-9 in the second. They still couldn't find a way to beat Sembalerus. Sharks were opportunistic McNabb finally opened the scoring 3:11 into the third period as she converted a 3 on 2 by driving the net and tucking backhand by Klapak. Brooke Weber then took advantage of a Swift Current turnover in their own zone to put the game out of reach with 3:48 to go in the game. "They capitalized on their chances," Pavely said. A couple mistakes that we made, one at an offensive blue line, one on the wall on a breakout, and good teams, they bury their chances. They didn't get a lot of chances, but the few they got, they buried them." A learning experience Pavely was really impressed with the way his team stepped up in the game. "With our backs against the wall, I thought we were really good today," he said. "We play that way against 95% of the U18 female teams, we're gonna win. Unfortunately, they had a really hot goalie today, and she was the best player on the ice, and that was the difference in the game." The young Wildcats are hoping this will be a launching pad to further success down the road. "Our message before was there's a lot of teams in Western Canada at the U18 level that would have done anything to have a chance to play tonight,” Pavely said. "We got that chance, and I thought we made the most of it. Kids dug in. "It's a real good learning experience for all our kids. For our graduating kids when they get to university, they have this experience to play in a game like this, and for our young kids coming back, we want to get back here again. Now that you've been there, you hope that that helps us down the road." Redemption for Battlefords That was the story for the Sharks who rebounded from a 2025 loss in the SFU18AAAHL championship series against Saskatoon to win in 2026. The Battlefords only lost twice all regular seaosn and playoffs as they now advance to a showdown with the Manitoba champions for a spot in the Esso Cup. The Sharks won the best-of-three series 2-0. This was the fifth time the Wildcats have been in the SFU18AAAHL championship series and the first time since 2016. Wednesday's game was broadcast on Country 94.1 FM's Local Sports Live, powered by Jeremy Patzer, MP for Swift Current–Grasslands–Kindersley.