NewsPage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 Jan 2, 2014, 1:23 pm Wildcats win Mac’s female title in triple-OT thrillerManitoba team outlasts the Fraser Valley Phantom 2-1 Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald CALGARY, AB: January 1, 2013 - The Westman Wildcats' Megan Robertson, centre, celebrates scoring the overtime winner against the Fraser Valley Phantom in the Mac's Midget AAA Hockey Tournament female final at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary Wednesday, January 1, 2013. (Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald) (For Sports story by TBA) 00051675AMegan Robertson helped the Westman Wildcats make history at the Mac’s AAA Midget Hockey Tournament on New Year’s Day. Robertson scored with 18 seconds remaining in the third overtime period to lead the Wildcats to a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Fraser Valley Phantom in the female division final at the Saddledome. The triple-OT game will go down in the record books as the longest Mac’s final ever in either the male or female division. “I was pretty excited,” Robertson said of her tournament-winning snipe. “I was getting tired, but I kept going. It’s definitely the biggest goal I’ve scored.” Westman coach Guy Williams gave his players credit for prevailing in the marathon game. “It’s kind of like wrestling with a gorilla,” said Williams, who was chosen as the most outstanding coach. “You don’t quit when you’re tired. You’ve got to quit when the gorilla’s tired.” Based in the small town of Hartney, the Wildcats are made up of players from southwestern Manitoba. In the 10th year of the female division at the Mac’s tournament, the Wildcats are the first team from outside of Saskatchewan or Alberta to win the championship. “It’s amazing,” said Robertson, 17, who hails from Boissevain. “It’s a huge tournament. I’ve come here for four years. It’s cool to come to a big city like this and the atmosphere is good.” After a scoreless first period, Fraser Valley forward Brianna Keats gave the Phantom a 1-0 lead at 12:03 of the second. Westman captain Jaycee Magwood then swatted a rebound past Fraser Valley goalie Valencia Yordanov at 2:32 of the third to tie up the contest and force overtime. Prior to Robertson’s game-winning goal, Yordanov stopped shots by both Magwood and Ashton Bell. “I was just going to the net,” Robertson said. “Both rebounds popped out and the last one came right to me to just put it away.” Williams wasn’t surprised that it took a determined effort for Robertson to finally get the puck past Yordanov. “We knew we had to get rebounds and to score ugly against her,” Williams said. “We got a rebound and we got a girl in the right spot with her stick on the ice and she did what she needed to do with it.” Yordanov, who earned accolades as the tournament’s top goaltender as well as being named to the first all-star team, finished the game with 47 saves, including 21 in the three overtime periods. “I’ve never been in a game that long,” said the 16-year-old goalie, who hails from Port Coquitlam, B.C. “I can’t really think of anything else that compares. Just to come so close and not quite get there, it’s tough.” Fraser Valley coach Dean Reed commended his players for putting up a good fight against the Wildcats in the final. “That was a battle,” Reed said. “That was both teams just going at each other. There’s nothing for them to be upset about.” The two teams both finished the preliminary round of the tournament with identical 3-0-1 records. In semifinal action on New Year’s Eve at Max Bell, the Phantom downed the Highwood Raiders 6-1 while the Wildcats needed overtime to beat the defending champion Edmonton Thunder 3-2. “We knew something special was going to happen this week,” said Williams in regards to adding a Mac’s tournament title to the Esso Cup that the Wildcats won in 2009. “It’ll be going up on our wall in our home rink right beside our national banner and it’s going to stay there forever. That’s something that these girls have all been a part of.” ICE CHIPS: Here are the winners of the female player awards: most valuable player: Alexandra Poznikoff, Edmonton Thunder. Top scorer: Delaney Ross, Lloydminster Steelers. Top goaltender: Valencia Yordanov, Fraser Valley Phantom. Top defensive player: Jessica Healey, Edmonton Thunder. Most outstanding coach: Guy Williams, Westman Wildcats. Top plus/minus (four-way tie): Delaney Edwards, Lloydminster Steelers; Delaney Ross, Lloydminster Steelers; Jodi Gentile, Fraser Valley Phantom; and Alexandra Poznikoff. Most sportsmanlike player: Alexandra Poznikoff.
Jan 2, 2014, 12:42 pm WESTMAN WILDCATS - MAC'S TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS Female Championship Final – Scotiabank Saddledome Westman Wildcats – 2 Fraser Valley Phantom – 1 (TRIPLE OVERTIME) (Tournament Writeup) With both teams playing outstanding two-way hockey, it was only fitting that the Female Championship Final would come down to a triple-overtime sudden death decision. The first period started with a defensive battle between both teams, the Westman Wildcats held the momentum at the end of the period firing plenty of challenging shots against Fraser Valley Phantom’s goalie Valencia Yordanov. The Phantom came out in the second period on fire, stealing the momentum back from the Wildcats with an un-assisted goal from #11 Brianna Keats. The second period ended with the Phantom leading 1-0 over the Wildcats. Early in the third period #7 Jaycee Magwood capitalized on a rebound from a Gina Williams point-shot, tying the game for the Wildcats at 1-1. The third period ended knotted up at 1 with both teams gaining plenty of scoring chances in desperation of avoiding an overtime period. The first and second overtime periods had both goaltenders stealing the show, no goals were scored as Sky Brown of the Wildcats and Valencia Yordanov of the Phantom kept their team alive going into a third overtime period. With 18 seconds left in the third overtime period, #15 Megan Robertson of the Westman Wildcats was the overtime hero, scoring her third goal of the tournament giving the Westman Wildcats the title of 2013 Mac’s Tournament Champions. Both teams played an amazing brand of hockey and gave the crowd a great start to the New Year. Final shots on net were 49-42 in favour of Westman. Special congratulations to Jaycee Magwood, Missy Hunt, and Sky Brown on being named 2nd Team All Stars. Dec 31, 2013, 11:19 pm The Wildcats were on the ice again today for their semi-final matchup against the defending champion Edmonton Thunder. Edmonton came out flying and dominated play for the majority of the 1st period as the Wildcats were forced to kill numerous penalties. The Thunder got on the board on the powerplay 6 minutes into the period to take a 1-0 lead. Fortunately for the Wildcats, Sky Brown was able to hold the fort as she turned aside 22 shots. In the 2nd period the Wildcats began to find their game and establish their forecheck. But it was the Thunder that got on the scoreboard a second time as they scored an even strength goal with 4:19 remaining in the period to take a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats, however, continued to fight and finally knotted the twine with 2:11 remaining in the period as Jaycee Magwood scored on a wrist shot from the high slot assisted by Ashton Bell and Megan Robertson. The period ended 2-1. Shots on goal were 9-6 in favour of Westman. In the 3rd period the Wildcats continued to press for the equalizer and after a couple of glorious chances were finally rewarded when Kenzie Robinson tied up the game with 4:08 remaining in the game, assisted by Jaedon Cooke and Brianna Williams. The 3rd period ended 2-2. Shots in the 3rd period were 9-5 in favour of Westman. We are headed for overtime. In the overtime period the Wildcats continued to take the game to Edmonton. After missing a glorious chance early in the frame, the Wildcats were finally able to score the game winner as Jaycee Magwood picked up her own rebound and buried it in the back of the net. Megan Robertson and Ashton Bell assisted on the goal. Final shots on net were 35-26 in favour of Edmonton. Sky Brown picked up the win in net. The Wildcats now face the Fraser Valley Phantom in the tournament final. Game time is Wednesday at 12:00 PM, Calgary time. The game is being broadcast live on Shaw Cable. Happy New Year. Dec 31, 2013, 9:24 am The Westman Wildcats finish in first place in their pool of 5 and advance to the Semi Finals against the Edmonton Thunder at 4:00pm (Alberta Time) at the Max Bell Centre.
Dec 31, 2013, 9:22 am The Wildcats returned to the ice on Monday at 8:00 AM to face the Red Deer Sutter Chiefs in their last round robin game. The scenarios were simple, win you are in to the semis, lose and you are not. The Wildcats were sluggish throughout most of the the 1st period but managed to score the opening goal off the stick of Megan Robertson, with assists going to Ashton Bell and Shae Vallotton. Unfortunately, Red Deer managed to tie it up a couple of minutes later. The period ended 1-1. In the 2nd period the Wildcats game began to take shape. They were finally able to establish the forecheck and frustrate Red Deer in all areas of the ice. After a string of solid shifts the Wildcats were rewarded with a second goal, this one coming off the stick of Ashton Bell, with the assist going to Megan Robertson. The Wildcats continued press until the end of the period with a solid forecheck. In the 3rd period, Westman continued their dominant play which resulted in a goal by Jaycee Magwood, assisted by Ashton Bell. The Wildcats gave up a weak goal from a bad angle shot midway through the 3rd that made the game more interesting but Red Deer was unable to establish much of a sustained push. Final shots on net were 21-14 in favour of Westman. The win gave the Wildcats 1st place in their pool. They will face the Wdmonton Thunder at 4:00 PM in the semi-final today. Dec 29, 2013, 8:30 pm The Wildcats stepped on the ice again today at 1:00 PM to face the Peace Country Storm for their third round robin game. The Wildcats struggled throughout the 1st period to get to the level of play that they had sustained in yesterday's game vs Fraser Valley. Finally at the end of the period Jaycee Magwood buried a shot on a 2 on 1 rush to put the Wildcats in the lead. Megan Robertson and Katie Crowe picked up the assists. Shots on goal in the period were 7-2 in favour of Peace Country. In the 2nd period the Wildcats took advantage on the powerplay to score two goals. The first goal came off the stick of Ashton Bell with the assists going to Jaycee Magwood and Courtney Ganske. The second powerplay goal of the period was scored by Jaycee Magwood with the assists going to Missy Hunt and Ashton Bell. The 3rd period was scoreless. Both teams were forced to kill off a number of penalties including each having to kill off extended 5 on 3 situations. Shots on goal were 9-5 in favour of Peace Country. Amber Tilbury picked up the win in net. The Wildcats next play on Monday morning at 8:00 AM vs Red Deer in their last round robin game. A win will put the girls into the semi-final on Tuesday. Dec 29, 2013, 10:24 am The Wildcats hit the ice on Saturday afternoon to face the Fraser Valley Phantom. The Phantom, 2-0 so far in the tournament, just came off a huge victory at the Notre Dame tournament last month. It was a fast paced, intense, close checking game from the opening faceoff. After weathering an early push from the Phantom, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard first at 15:52 mark of the period with an end to end rush from Jaedon Cooke, unassisted. The Wildcats controlled the remainder of the period and had 3 great scoring chances. Shots on goal were 11-8 for the Wildcats. In the 2nd period the Phantom pushed the pace and carried the play resulting in a couple of penalties against the Wildcats. No goals were scored in the period. Shots on goal were 16-2 in favour of the Phantom. However, many of the shots were from the outside and Sky Brown controlled the rebounds well. In the 3rd period the Phantom scored the tying goal on the powerplay off a broken play. They pushed to go ahead but the Wildcats again weathered the storm.. At about the 9 minute mark the Wildcats took over the play and dominated until the end of the game. They missed on 4 great scoring chances, including 2 chances on a 5-3 man advantage. The game ended 1-1. Shots on goal in the 3rd period were 11-10 in favour of Westman. Final shots on goal were 34-24 in favour of Fraser Valley. The Wildcats face Peace Country Storm today at 1:00 PM. Dec 26, 2013, 3:38 pm The Wildcats faced the Calgary Bruins in the first game of the 2013 Mac's tournament. After a long trip the day before, which included a wonderful turkey dinner on the bus, the ladies gutted out an effort to secure a 4-1 victory. Shae Vallotton got the girls on the board in the first off a seeing eye wrist shot from the point that found the back of the net. Jenna Patterson picked up the lone assist. Jaycee Magwood stretched the lead to 2-0 with a wraparound goal, assisted by Megan Robertson. Shots on goal were 6-5 in favour of Calgary. In the 2nd period, Calgary pulled within a goal on the powerplay. Westman responded with two goals of their own to take a 4-1 lead. The first was a short handed marker off the stick of Jaedon Cooke with the assist going to Jossa Danis. The 4th goal was scored by Jossa Danis with the assist going to Jaedon Cooke. Shots on goal were 13-7 for Westman. The 3rd period was scoreless. The Wildcats had to kill off five consecutive penalties in the final frame. Shots on goal were 4-1 in favour of Calgary. Final shots were 19-17 in favour of Westman. Amber Tilbury picked up the victory in net. The ladies have the day off tomorrow before they play Fraser Valley at 1:00 PM on Saturday. |
Home
