News

It was déjà vu all over again as the Westman Wildcats traveled to Manitou to face the Pembina Valley Hawks on a cold and blustery night in a battle for 1st place and once again the Wildcats secured a 4-3 victory...this time in regulation.

The Hawks staked a 1-0 lead midway through the 1st period when they hit a girl coming off the bench with a stretch pass for a breakaway goal. The Wildcats outshot the Hawks 10-7 in the period while the Hawks took the lone penalty of the period.

in the 2nd period the Hawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when the Wildcats were caught on a poor line change that resulted in another breakaway goal for a 2-0 lead.  The Wildcats responded quickly as Mckenzie Meek scored 10 seconds later to make it 2-1.  Paige Hubbard and Brooky Klein picked up the assists.  Aly O'Hara tied the game with a wrist shot short side on the powerplay at the 13:40 mark of the period with Cammy Clyne picking up the assist.  The Wildcats would take the lead with 4:51 remaining in the period as Andrea Sanderson scored on a high wrist shot to the blocker side from the high slot.  Aly O'Hara picked up the lone assist.  They would extend the lead on the powerplay 28 seconds later as Andrea Sanderson tipped home a Tori Williams point shot.  The period would end 4-2. The Hawks outshot the Wildcats 12-6 in the period and took 3 of 5 penalties.  

The Wildcats played a solid 3rd period to protect the lead with a late powerplay goal by the Hawks making the game a little more interesting.  The Hawks outshot the Wildcats 12-8 and each team took 2 minor penalties.

Kaitie Slator picked up the win in net, stopping 28 of 31 shots.  The Wildcats now travel to Steinbach to play the Eastman Selects in two games on Saturday and Sunday.

Two unfortunate bounces were the Wildcats undoing on Friday in their last round robin game vs Vancouver Island at the Mac's tourney.  The Wildcats needed a win for a chance to advance to the semifinals on Saturday but unfortunately came up with a 3-3 tie.

VI got on the board at the 15:26 mark of the opening period as a soft backhand shot deflected off a Westman defender and eluded the Wildcats netminder for a 1-0 lead.  Westman tied it up with a great effort on the wraparound from Aly O'Hara at the 5:27 mark of the period but VI again took the lead with just over two minutes remaining on a broken defensive zone coverage.  The period would end 2-1.  The Wildcats squandered 4 powerplay opportunities.  Shots were 12-3 in favour of Westman.

The Wildcats came out with plenty of intensity in the 2nd period and would tie it up at the 11:19 mark of the period as Mckenzie Meek buried a shot from the slot with the assists coming from Tori Williams and Paige Hubbard.  The would take the lead two minutes later as Aly O'Hara scored her second of the game with assists going to Cammy Clyne and Andrea Sanderson. The period would end 3-2 for Westman.  The Wildcats took 2 of 3 minor penalties and outshot VI 15-8.

In the 3rd the Wildcats pushed for the victory. VI would tie it unfortunately as a shot came off the backwall, went through the Wildcats defenders' skates right to a waiting Seals forward who buried it into the back of the net.  The Wildcats would give it all they had and had a number of good chances but could not beat the VI goaltender and the game would end 3-3. Westman took 4 of 7 penalties in the 3rd period and were outshot by VI 14-9.

Jenna Marshall suffered the loss in net and was victim to some bad luck.  Final shots on net were 36-20 in favour of Westman.

The Wildcats get back to league action next weekend on the road with a game in Manitou vs Pembina Valley on Friday night and two games in Steinbach on Saturday and Sunday vs Eastman.

The Westman Wildcats built a 2-0 lead after two periods but were unable to seal the deal as Melville scored two 3rd period goals, one on a 5-3 man advantage, to earn a tie in the round robin game.

Shae Vallotton and Aly O'Hara scored for Westman. Kaitie Slator stopped 37 of 39 shots in the game.

The Wildcats must win on Friday morning against the Vancouver Island Seals if they hope to move on to the semi-final on Saturday.

Four powerplay goals against and no powerplay goals in 4 opportunities of their own were too much to overcome as the Westman Wildcats were defeated 5-1 by the Rocky Mountain Raiders on Wednesday night at the Mac's.

Jenna Marshall was superb in net for the Wildcats as she stopped 43 of 48 shots, many of them high quality scoring opportunities, as the Raiders came at Westman in waves at times through the game.

The opening period saw the Wildcats survive the early energy and hard work displayed by the Raiders only to have 3 consecutive penalties put them behind the proverbial gun again.  The Raiders would score the only goal of the opening period on a 5 on 3 man advantage.  Shots on goal in the period were 18-2 in favour of Rocky Mountain.

The Wildcats worked hard to regain momentum in the 2nd period but were scored on again at the 15:35 mark of the period as the Raiders scored their only even strength goal of the game to make it 2-0.  The Wildcats came back hard and the game settled into an end to end affair with each team trading opportunities. Unfortunately, a rather weak penalty call in the neutral zone took away all their momentum as the Raiders scored again on the powerplay to make it 3-0. They would follow that up again just over a minute later on another powerplay to make it 4-0. After a timeout, the Wildcats regained their composure and managed to keep the score at 4-0 after two periods.  The Raiders again outshot the Wildcats 14-8 in the period.

Rocky Mountain would score their 4th powerplay goal of the game with 8:44 remaining to make it 5-0.  Cammy Clyne would respond with an even strength goal with just under a minute remaining to make it 5-1.  

Final shots on net were 48-15.  As stated earlier, Jenna Marshall was superb in the Wildcats net and picked up the Westman game star. The Wildcats took 7 of 11 penalties in the game.

The Wildcats face off against Melville in a very important matchup today at 4:00 PM as both teams are tied in the standings.

After getting into their hotel at 3:00 AM and into bed at 3:30 AM due to the blizzard in MB, the Wildcats were off to the rink bright and early for a 10:30 AM tilt vs the Kootenay Wild.

The team gutted out a sluggish opening 20 and began to find their legs as they rolled into the 2nd. Andrea Sanderson got the Wildcats on the board with 8:47 remaining in the 2nd period as she buried a Cammy Clyne feed from behind the net to make it 1-0.
Just over 4 minutes later, Tori Williams picked up a puck in the neutral zone, rushed up the middle, split the D and buried a shot top shelf to make it 2-0. That is how the period would end.

With a 2-0 lead heading into the 3rd period, the Wildcats focus was to control the game territorially. With just under 6 minutes remaining, Tori Williams would score her 2nd of the game when she picked off a clearing attempt, drove the net and buried another shot top shelf to make it 3-0. Shae Vallotton made it 4-0 just over a minute later as she fired a one time pass from Tori Williams on the powerplay to make it 4-0. Andrea Sanderson picked up the other assist. That is how the game ended.

Kaitie Slator picked up the win in net stopping all 8 shots she faced. The Wildcats had 21 shots on net and took 4 of 7 penalties.

The Wildcats face Rocky Mountain tomorrow.

The Westman Wildcats would like to extend its congratulations to Shaelyn Vallotton, a 4^th year Wildcat from Ninette, MB, who has committed to attend school at, and play hockey with, the University of Regina Cougars in the fall of 2017. She will be pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree.

Shae is an assistant-captain with the Wildcats this year. In 28 league games last year she had 4 goals, 11 assists for 15 points. Overall, in 64 games last season, Shae scored 6 goals and added 15 assist for 21 points. So far this season, in 27 games Shae has 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points. Shae is a physical presence all over the ice and is developing a very heavy shot from the point. She is a tireless worker and a model of character and work ethic for her teammates.

The University of Regina is a member of the Canada West Conference of the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan. It is composed of 10 faculties and one school that offer a variety of programs at the certificate, diploma, undergraduate and graduate degree levels. More than 12,000 students are currently enrolled. 


The Westman Wildcats would like to extend its congratulations to McKenzie Meek who has committed to attend school at, and play hockey with, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Trojans in the fall of 2017. McKenzie is a 3^rd year Wildcat who attends Vincent Massey Collegiate in Brandon, MB. SAIT is located in Calgary, Alberta and the Trojans play out of the ACAC (Alberta College Athletic Conference).

In 28 league games last year McKenzie had 10 goals, 7 assists for 17 points. Overall, in 64 games last season, she scored 13 goals and added 10 assists for 23 points. So far this season, McKenzie has 4 goals and 9 assists in 29 games. McKenzie is best known for her pinpoint shooting accuracy and her heavy shot.

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology is a polytechnic institute. SAIT offers more than 100 career programs in technology, trades and business. SAIT was established in 1916, it is Calgary's second oldest post-secondary institution and Canada's first publicly funded technical institute.

The Westman Wildcats made it a perfect 3 for 3 this weekend on the road as the defeated the Interlake Lightning 3-0 in Warren, MB on Sunday afternoon.

Ashton Bell again led the Wildcats with a goal and an assist on the day.  Mckenzie Meek and Cammy Clyne each picked up a goal.  Tori Williams had two assists with Aly O'Hara and Andrea Sanderson each picking up single assists.

The Wildcats held period leads of 2-0 after the 1st and 3-0 after the 2nd and outshot the Lightning 46-18.  The Lightning picked up the lone penalty of the game.

Jenna Marshall picked up the win in net for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats next action will be on December 27th at the Mac's Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, when they face off against the Kootenay Wild.

Merry Christmas, everyone.