The margin for error was slim in a weekend set at Fairview West between the Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats and Prince Albert Northern Bears.


Game 1

In Saturday's game, the Bears earned a 5-4 win.

Prince Albert went ahead 39 seconds into play, though Wildcats defenceman Kamryn Johnson evened the game up at 1-1 six minutes later - a score that carried through to the second frame.

There, the Bears scored early and often, as goals with 18:53, 16:12, and 2:55 remaining in the second period handed the Wildcats a 4-1 deficit.

"We weren't very good in the first two periods, and then we were really good in the third," said Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely. "We really made a valiant effort at the end, but when you're down 4-1 to a good team, it's hard to win."

Into the final 20, it was the Wildcats who put one home early.

Sara Kendall took a feed from Taylor Lind to cut the deficit to two goals just 21 seconds into the third.

Then with 7:41 left, Baylee Kirwan and Madison Garrett set up Carissa Hogan, who found the back of the net to trim the Bears' lead to just one.

However, the Bears jumped ahead by two just over three minutes later.

Ashlee Wolfe got the Wildcats within one once again, as Maddy McCleary and Lind set up the forward for Swift's fourth goal with their net empty, though with just 53 seconds remaining, it was too little, too late.

Amaya Giraudier was charged with the loss, stopped 21 of 25 Bears' shots over 37:05 of play. Harper Davey came on in relief, facing just three shots, stopping two, in 20:42 of action.


Game 2

Into Sunday's contest, it was a wild 6-4 win for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats and Bears flew through the first period scoreless.

"Today it was kind of the opposite - The first period we out-shot them 9-4, we only gave up one scoring chance, and then the second period we only got one shot," said Pavely. "We worked hard, we just weren't making plays, we were throwing the puck away. Against good teams, if you just throw it away without a plan, they capitalize."

Lind broke open the scoring on the powerplay in the second, as passing from Hogan and McCleary gifted the captain a goal, though the Bears kept it even through 40 minutes with a late goal.

Into the third, things heated up - the Bears took a 2-1 lead two-and-a-half minutes in, before the Wildcats hammered home back-to-back goals.

McCleary was the goal-scorer this time around, with Hogan and Lind assisting her powerplay point shot.

Then 18 seconds later Sara Kendall gave the Wildcats the lead on an unassisted play.

"I just got my feet moving and got around the defender," Kendall said. "I wasn't really thinking about where I was shooting, I just kind of tried to hit net."

The Bears then polished off a pair of unanswered goals themselves to take a 4-3 lead at the midway point of the third.

Swift Current was down one with 97 seconds to go and the net empty, when Kendall took a feed from Ashlee Wolfe to tie the game up.

After tying it up, the Wildcats needed just 36 seconds to then take the lead, as Kirwan was set up by Hogan and Lind for their fifth goal.

Making it a rare case of both teams pulling their goalie within a minute, the Bears left the net empty with under a minute to play.

Kendall polished off the hat-trick with another unassisted goal with 36 seconds left to hand the Wildcats the win.

"One thing we're really happy with is since the Notre Dame tournament, we're never out of a game," said Pavely. "That's a real positive for our team right now. The game against Calgary where we made a real good comeback, last night we tried at the end, and today again, we pulled our goalie and got a goal, then got another late one. I like the fact that our kids believe we're never out of a game. But, we've still got to find a way to be consistent for 60 minutes.

"That's what we talked about in the room," said Pavely after the win. "It starts in practice this week. We need to be consistent in practice. Our practice the past week wasn't consistent all three, then you play that way. That's got to be the focus for us - getting better in practice so that it translates into a little bit more consistency in a game."

After going 0-for-4 on the man-advantage the previous night, Swift Current was an efficient 2-for-3 on the powerplay on Sunday.

"Our powerplay has been good, and one of the things we've focused on is letting the puck do the work. We got away from that probably a month ago, where we were trying to beat people one-on-one. Our focus has been that we don't want the powerplay to ever end up on a one-on-one, we always want it to be two-on-ones and out-number them wherever it is on the ice. If you let the puck do the work, you tend to have more success. Our kids have really bought into that."

"This weekend was the norm, as there were almost no penalties, but when you only have two or three opportunities, you have to make teams pay and we did, which was really good to see."

Harper Davey earned the win in net, stopping 25 of 29 pucks for the Wildcats, who topped the Bears for the first time this season in their fourth-and-final meeting.

With Saturday's 5-4 loss, and their late-November set in Prince Albert amounting to 5-2 and 9-1 losses, the Wildcats win was a big boost to the club.

"It feels awesome to finally get a W against this team, they're pretty tough," said Sara Kendall. "Now, we've just got to bring this win on to Saskatoon and keep going on from here."

The Wildcats (6-7-0-1) wrap up the 2018 portion of their schedule on the road against the Saskatoon Stars (15-0-1-0) Friday and Saturday from Merlis Belsher Place.

"That would be awesome if we could give them their first losses, that's our goal," Kendall said. "We've just got to make sure have a high pace, are making passes, and burying pucks when we get them."

Friday's game is a 7:30 puck drop, with a 7:15 pregame live on The Eagle 94.1 for Diamond Energy Wildcats Hockey brought to you by SWT.