Mavericks And Flyers Play Defensive Duel
It was a fast, big, strong, aggressive and coordinated U18 A Milestone Flyers who skated into town to take on the Moose Jaw Carpet One U18 A Mavericks in Saskatchewan Female Hockey League action on Friday evening.
The Flyers put their 5 - 0 undefeated record on the line against the Mavericks who are 4 - 3 - 2.
The shifting momentum defensive battle ended in a 2 - 2 draw.
Moose Jaw Mavericks Miley Kleckner protects against any rebounds in front of goalie Sara Umana - MJ Independent photo
The First Period saw no scoring.
Each team drew a two minute minor but strong penalty killing saw both penalties end without any scoring.
The Second Period saw the scoreless bubble burst.
The Flyers got on the scoreboard with a power play goal at 14:17. The goal was scored by Savannah Beitel and assisted by Kiya Weitos.
The Mavericks tied the game at 5:59. The goal was scored by Keinna MacDonald and assisted by Jayden Babich.
Before the period was over the Flyers would retake the lead.
Eva Harker would score at 1:38 assisted by Sydney Vermeulen and Savannah Beitel.
The Third Period saw the Mavericks late in the period tie the game.
Jayden Babich would score an unassisted goal at 2:39.
Milestone Flyers London Cote takes a ride along the ice - MJ Independent photo
Mavericks head coach Jeff Wilson said it was a good game with momentum flowing back and forth.
“It was a game of momentum tonight. They had momentum for awhile. We took it to them in the first period for sure for the first ten minutes. We could have had a lot of chances, lot of goals,” Wilson said.
The second half of the period saw the Flyers grab the momentum.
“They came back. And pretty well continued for the rest of the game. They had it for awhile. Then we had it for awhile. In the end we were able to get one there to tie the game up. I’m pretty happy with the result,” he said.
“They’re a good team Milestone.”
Asked if they were surprised with how good of a team Milestone is he said “we expected that. They haven’t been beaten, yet they’re at the top of the league so we expected a hard game from them.”
Despite Milestone being a good team Wilson said the Mavericks matched up well against Flyers and could have easily won the game.
Moose Jaw Mavericks forward Danielle Greenough cruises around Milestone Flyer’s goaltender Amelia Heagy - MJ Independent photo
The Mavericks are noticeably smaller than the Flyers but the Moose Jaw squad used their speed.
“We actually skated hard for some shifts and took the momentum. We put it in their end and got lots of shots on net. Other times we let up and they would take it right back to us.”
Coming back at the end of the game is something the Mavericks have done throughout the year.
Wilson described the team is resilient and fighting back. It’s something they have done this season.
“ i’m proud of the girls for sticking in there and getting that goal late.”
Asked about Milestone taking the game to the Mavericks and the corners, Wilson said they used their size to their advantage.
“They’ve got a big team. I don’t know if you noticed that and we’re kind of a smaller team when it gets rough, sometimes we get the worst of it a lot of times,” he said.
Moose Jaw Mavericks Tyler Howe - MJ Independent photo
Asked what he was looking for from the Mavericks Wilson said the team is in the top four of the league and should do well.
“Any given night we can match up with other teams. So i’m lookingto finish in top four of the league this year. I think we’ve got a great team. It’s possible to beat any team if we put our minds to it.”
The Mavericks are comprised of five girls who moved up from last year’s stupendous U15 team five who are in their second year and then five that are in their third year.
The experience factor makes the team better than last season.
Half of the team is for Moose Jaw with the other half coming from Mossbank and Assiniboia areas.
Because so many of the players come from south of the city on Saturday and also Sunday there will be two home games played at the Mossbank Arena.
“This is a better team than last year 100 percent.”
Milestone Flyers Stella Popescu - MJ Independent photo
For Milestone Flyers head coach Shane Kaufmann it was a good game with a good effort put in by the team.
Other than tying the game the Flyers had an almost perfect game on the ice and on the bench. Problems such as line changes - something the Flyers occasionally had in the past - were none existent.
“It was a good game. A good battle,” Kaufmann said.
Regarding the Flyers not waiting for the Mavericks to make a mistake but rather taking the initiative and making their own opportunities he said the team did this well.
“I think we control the game pretty good. We just could’ve got more shots on net.”
Asked about the Flyers who could be described as big, strong and fast Kaufmann said this year’s edition of the U18 A Female Flyers is a good one.
“We’ve got a really good team. Lots of young kids moved up this year and they are doing good.”
Eleven of 18 players are returnees from last season. The returnees gave natured well for their second year on the team. Only one girl graduated from the team this season.
The Flyers were laid back emotionally and did not panic under pressure.
“Yea they were pretty calm and cool.”
The calmness showed up on the Flyers penalty kill when instead of simply dumping a pump down the ice they ragged as much as possible to eat up as many as they could of the penalty.
Milestone Flyers Bryn Montgomery smiles after she and Moose Jaw Mavericks Miley Kleckner slid along the ice - MJ Independent photo
“They’re a pretty solid team actually. It should be a fun season.”
On Friday evening the Flyers were missing three players who didn’t make the trip. Players Kaufmann thinks, had they been on the roster, would have meant a win for the team.
The three missing players meant the bench was busy jostling lines and players that had to get use to playing on lines they hadn’t before.
Although early in the season, the team has had not too bad of crowds at their games in Milestone for being so early in the season.
“It will get better as we go.”
