Caps Finish Westman WildCats Spring Classic With Tough 3-2 Win

   The Caps finished off the Westman Wildcats Spring Classic Tournament with a tough 3-2 win over the Eastman Selects. The win left the Caps with 3 wins and 1 loss for the weekend and solid top 5 finish in a very competitive 12 team field.

   The final game of the weekend saw Elisha Oswald play a solid game in net especially in the 3rd period as the Selects came out hard and outshot the Caps for the only period in the game actually doubling their 1st and 2nd period shots. Oswald faced 22 shots for the game with 11 coming in final stanza. The Caps controlled the 1st and 2nd periods as they out shot the Selects 19 to 11 and ended with 26 for the game. The Caps held period leads of 2-0 and 3-1 however the Selects scored early in the 3rd period to make it a one goal game and force an exciting finish as the Caps were forced to kill off a penalty in the last minute and a 6 on 4 as Eastman pulled their goalie.

    Courtlyn Oswald led the Caps offense with 2 goals and an assist while Assistant Captain Maggie Girard scored and added an assist. Sheridan Oswald and Liz Stewart also picked up assists.

Caps Unbeaten Streak Stopped at 10 by Pembina Valley

   The last time the Caps lost was a month ago and it was the 3 time MFMHL and 2 Time Provincial Champion Pembina Valley Hawks that defeated them. It was history repeating itself in Souris as the Hawks earned a hard fought 1-0 victory over the Caps at the Westman Wildcats Spring Classis Tournament to end the Caps unbeaten streak at 10 games.

   The contest saw the Hawks come out fast and out shoot the Caps 9-7 in the first period however with 5 minutes to go in the period it was the Caps that started to control a majority of the game outshooting the Hawks 20-9 over the next 2 periods however never finding a way to beat the Hawks netminder. The Hawks scored the lone goal of the game on a scramble in front of the Caps net that saw Elisha Oswald make the first 2 saves before getting beat.

   The Caps not only outshot the Hawks for the game but held an huge advantage in quality scoring chances of  12-5 but were either denied by the Hawks goaltending or missed the net. The Coaching staff was extremely pleased with the Caps competitive level throughout the game vs. the top team in the MFMHL but continued to stress the need to get more pucks to the net. Although the Caps outshot the Hawks they did not get the puck to the net enough especially on the powerplay where they were just looking too much for the perfect play or refused to shoot and tried to make one more move in a scoring position.

   The loss left the Caps in the 5th position out of 12 teams and will now play Eastman Selects Sunday @ 11:00 am in Hartney to finish the weekend.

CAPS GO 2-0 ON FIRST DAY OF WESTMAN WILDCATS SPRING CLASSIC

Game 1 vs. Yellowhead Chiefs -  The Caps dominated the Chiefs out shooting them 46-6 however it took 2 power play goals in the 3rd period to secure the win. Caps Captain Callan Harland scored off a scramble in front of the Chiefs' net to open the scoring, assists went to Sheridan and Courtlyn Oswald. The Chiefs evened the game at 1-1 before Courtlyn Oswald scored the game winner when she stepped off the wall and roofed a great shot under the crossbar. Tamara McVannel and Maggie Girard picked up assists on the play. Elisha Oswald earned the win in net for the Caps and was only beaten by a screen shot on a Chiefs' power play.

Game 2 vs Winnipeg Ice - Sheridan Oswald had 2 goals and an assist to lead the Caps past the Ice in the evening game. Courtlyn Oswald had a goal and an assist while Maggie Girard picked up 2 helpers. Breanna Murner also scored for the Caps with assists going to Tamara McVannel, Megan Tully and Callan Harland. The Caps controlled the first 2 periods building up 2-0 and 4-1 intermission leads while out shooting the Ice 29-9. The 3rd period saw the Caps pick up 5 minor penalties and allow the Ice to grab some Momentum back as they fired 9 shots at the Caps net. Elisha Oswald was solid only allowing the one goal on a 5 on 3 when the Caps were unable to clear a rebound.