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DAWSON CREEK, BC- Team Manitoba falls just shy to Ontario-Blue in Sunday’s U-18 national championship gold medal game. Team Manitoba held two leads in the game but it was Ontario-Blue that would take a 3-2 lead early in the third period followed by an empty net goal with 1 second left in the game to win 4-2.

This was a historic gold medal game as it was the first time Ontario-Red has not been in the National Women’s U-18 Championship final and the first time they have not won the event. It was also the first time U-18 Team Manitoba found themselves in the gold medal game at this event, previously only advancing to the gold medal game of the 2007 Canada Winter Games. Despite coming up short in the final, Team Manitoba displayed a proud performance to once again show the country that the province is among the best in the nation at developing talent. 

Game summary:

First Period
Goals: 
09:46 MB 16 Jessica Vallotton (7 Ashleigh Brykaliuk, 11 Karissa Kirkup) 
11:21 ON-B 76 Paige Horton (22 Jessica Gillham) 

Penalties: 
06:25 ON-B 8 Jordan McDonell (Hooking) 
13:50 MB 5 Alicia Van Alstyne (Tripping)

Second Period
Goals: 
03:27 MB 3 Lauryn Keen 
15:38 ON-B 95 Krista Yip-Chuck (19 Rebecca Leslie) 

Penalties: 
05:57 MB 14 Larissa Martyniuk (Interference) 
18:22 ON-B 90 Kirsten Miller (Tripping)

Third Period
Goals: 
01:04 ON-B 26 Hailey Noronha (44 Victoria Andreakos) 
19:59 ON-B 16 Brooke Webster EN 

Penalties: 
12:07 MB 11 Karissa Kirkup (Roughing)

Goaltenders
Ontario Blue: 34 Brittany Smrke – 27 saves 
Manitoba: 35 Brittini Mowat – 20 saves

The gold medal final will be replayed on TSN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. MT on Tuesday, November 13.

MANITOBA AND ONTARIO BLUE TO PLAY FOR GOLD MEDAL AT 2012 NATIONAL WOMEN’S UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP IN DAWSON CREEK, B.C.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – For the first time in history, Manitoba will play in the gold medal game against Ontario Blue, which has appeared in the gold medal once before, at the National Women’s Under-18 Championship after posting semifinal wins Saturday at the EnCana Events Centre.

Manitoba defeated host team British Columbia 4-1, while Ontario Blue beat Ontario Red 7-1, to advance to the gold medal game at the 2012 National Women’s Under-18 Championship, which will air live on www.TSN.ca and be replayed on TSN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. MT on Tuesday, November 13.

Please CLICK HERE to watch the gold medal game live online on when the puck drops at 6 p.m. ET/4 p.m. MT tomorrow, Sunday, November 11. TSN, TSN2 and RDS are the official broadcasters of Hockey Canada.

Earlier Saturday, Alberta topped Atlantic 6-2 to claim seventh place and Quebec beat Saskatchewan 8-4 for fifth place. British Columbia and Ontario Red will face off for the bronze medal at 2 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT, with the game airing live athockeycanada.fasthockey.com. Please CLICK HERE to link to FASTHockey in three easy steps.

The Westman Wildcat organization would like to wish good luck to Ashleigh Brykaliuk from Brandon, Karissa Kirkup from Virden, and Jessica Vallotton from Ninette as they head off to Nationals as members of Team Manitoba. Team Manitoba will compete at the U-18 National Championships to be held in Dawson Creek, B.C. From November 7-11. Follow the girls here during the tournament as we keep the wildcat fans updated on how the girls are doing. Good luck girls from the Wildcat organization!  Follow game updates at http://www.hockeycanada.ca/nwu18c

Ashleigh Brykaliuk – Forward – Westman Wildcats – recorded 7 points to lead the Wildcats offensively during a 3 game winning streak.  Brykaliuk who leads the Wildcats with 15 goals and 21 points for the season is a member of Hockey Manitoba’s  POE U18 Team and U18 Team Canada. Brykaliuk was part of U18 Team Canada that won Gold at the 2012 IIHF World Championship.

Kristen Campbell – Goalie – Westman Wildcats – recorded 2 wins while allowing only 1 goal and posting a .980 save% including a 3-0 shutout over the Yellowhead Chiefs. Campbell has recorded 4 shutouts this season for the Wildcats and in 4 MFMHL games has a 1.01 GAA and a .963 save %.

WILDCATS SECOND WIN FOR WEEKEND

WILDCATS MFMHL RECORD 6-3-1

The Wildcats were in action at the Hartney Community Arena for a third home game of the weekend on Sunday at 2:00pm with the Winnipeg Ice. The Wildcats still missing Courtney Ganske from the roster. Some of the Cats line ups were changed through the game. Amber Tilbury made 18 saves. Game shots on goal were Wildcats 38 and Ice 19. Penalties handed out totalled 17, with the Wildcats 8 and Ice 9.
The First Period saw five goals scored by the Cats; the first one by Jessica Vallotton with assists from Keisha Robertson and Megan Robertson. Samantha Dyck got the next unassisted. The third goal came from rookie Jossa Danis with assists going Megan Robertson and Jaycee Magwood. Ashleigh Brykaliuk with a pass from Karissa Kirkup got the fourth. Brykaliuk got another unassisted for the fifth. The Winnipeg Ice got a powerplay goal at 6:53 remaining in the period. Period Two, the Wildcats added three more goals; Melissa Hunt scored assisted by Samantha Dyck. Rookie Kjierstin Wallace got the second goal with assists going to Teagan Pringle and Melissa Hunt. Before the period ended Keisha Robertsonn scored assisted by Amanda Coey and Samantha Dyck. The Third Period saw Melissa Hunt scoring at 7:11 with help from Jenna Patterson.
Final Score: Wildcats 9  Winnipeg Ice 1

WILDCATS WIN AT HOME

The Wildcats played their second home game for the weekend at the Hartney Community Arena on Saturday at 8:00pm. The visiting team was the Winnipeg Avros, this game was the second of a four league season match up.
Courtney Ganske injured was missing from the Cats roster. 
This game was played at a high energy level. Both teams were skating hard with strong puck movement. For the Wildcats, it was every shift on the ice contributing for 60 minutes. The game shots on goal were Wildcats 29 and Avros 26.  Kristen Campbell made 24 saves. The penalties handed for the game, totalled 4 to each team.
The First Period saw the Cats sink the first goal. Megan Robertson behind the Avros net fed Ashleigh Brykaliuk who put it past the goalie. The Avros got one on a breakaway from Sharman. Cats were pressing the Avros on the two penalty kills. The Wildcats were getting many scoring opportunites on the Avros goalie. The end of the period it was a 1-1 game, with 11 shots on goal for both teams. The Second Period the high pace continued. Neither team getting a puck past the goalies. The game shots on goal at the end of the period now Wildcats 22 and Avros 24. The Third Period action the same pace continuing. The midway mark saw it now a 2-2 game. The Cats getting a goal at 9:04; cycling around the net, Ashleigh Brykaliuk passed to Megan Robertson who feed one to Karissa Kirkup and it was her quick shot that sunk one past the goalie. Sharman got her second goal for the Avros. It was was at 8:13 when Cats forward Jaycee Magwood getting another chance at the Avros goalie and with her quick hand got the rebound in front assisted by Karissa Kirkup and Ashleigh Brykaliuk for the third Cats goal. Around the one minute mark left in the game, the Avros pulled the goalie for an extra attacker. The Game ended WILDCATS 3  AVROS 2. 

THE WILDCATS ARE IN ACTION AGAIN TODAY, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4TH AT 2:00PM, AGAINST THE WINNIPEG ICE.  

GO WILDCATS GO !!

WESTMAN WILDCATS FIRST OF FOUR LEAGUE MATCHUPS WITH PEMBINA VALLEY HAWKS

The snow just kept on coming down Friday, making poor driving conditions and the radio announcing Westman cancellations for the evening, but at the Hartney Community Arena it was GAME ON with the Wildcats playing the Hawks.
The Cats injured players; Karissa Kirkup, Jessica Vallotton both back after missing 12 games and Kjierstin Wallace back after missing 10 games. Courtney Ganske still missing from the roster, on the injured list. The game was fast and played tight. The shots on goal were Wildcats 34 and Hawks 24. Game penalties handed out totalled five for each team. The Cats forward lines were pressing all game, at the other end of the ice Kristen Campbell keeping the Hawks leading scorer off the scoreboard more than one. The First Period at just under the 10 minute mark , the Cats were handed their first penalty. Less than a minute later, another Cat penalty resulting in the Hawks having a 5 on 3 powerplay. The Hawks with a slap shot from the centre of the blue line which got a deflection past the screened Cats goalie to get one on the scoreboard. The Second Period, the Cats outshot the Hawks 15-5. The Third Period, it was the Cats pushing still for the equalizer and getting some rebounds off the Hawks goalie. Final score: Wildcats 0  Hawks 1