Short Staffed Caps lose 4-2 to League Leaders
The Caps were forced to play the league leading Pembina Valley Hawks with only 11 skaters on Sunday afternoon due to the closing of the #1 Highway because of an accident and weather. Th Hawks were not affected by the highway closure having come from the south and not utlizing the #1.
With a shortened bench and 2 APs in the line up the Caps got off to a very slow start and were traling 3--0 midway through the 1st and 4-0 less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period on goals by Kayleigh Weins, Christine Grenier, Amy Mangin and Caley Steinert for the Hawks. From this point on it was the Caps who did all the scoring and continued to create chances.
Throughout the game the Caps were not outplayed but a few early defensive breakdowns due to players not playing in regular situations because of the short bench and 6 regulars missing the game it took some time for the Caps to get a feel for situation.
The Caps outshot Pembina 36--35 and had numerous scoring chances throughout the game. Both the Caps' Taylor Mutcher and Shanley Peters for PV played very well in goal. Peters made numerous big saves especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods when the Caps really pressed with Mutcher shutting down the Hawks for just under 2 periods with some huge saves as well. The Caps pressure eventually paid off with Taylor McVannel scoring her 12th of the season with assists going to Natasha Kostenko and Ashleigh Davidson. The Caps would eventually close the gap to 4-2 when AP Karissa Kirkup scored with assists going to Jillene Rodgers and Courtney NIchol.
The Coaching staff was extremely pleased with the effort of the players and the fact that at 4-0 they did not give up and continued to play right through to the last whislte in a very difficult situation.
With a shortened bench and 2 APs in the line up the Caps got off to a very slow start and were traling 3--0 midway through the 1st and 4-0 less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period on goals by Kayleigh Weins, Christine Grenier, Amy Mangin and Caley Steinert for the Hawks. From this point on it was the Caps who did all the scoring and continued to create chances.
Throughout the game the Caps were not outplayed but a few early defensive breakdowns due to players not playing in regular situations because of the short bench and 6 regulars missing the game it took some time for the Caps to get a feel for situation.
The Caps outshot Pembina 36--35 and had numerous scoring chances throughout the game. Both the Caps' Taylor Mutcher and Shanley Peters for PV played very well in goal. Peters made numerous big saves especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods when the Caps really pressed with Mutcher shutting down the Hawks for just under 2 periods with some huge saves as well. The Caps pressure eventually paid off with Taylor McVannel scoring her 12th of the season with assists going to Natasha Kostenko and Ashleigh Davidson. The Caps would eventually close the gap to 4-2 when AP Karissa Kirkup scored with assists going to Jillene Rodgers and Courtney NIchol.
The Coaching staff was extremely pleased with the effort of the players and the fact that at 4-0 they did not give up and continued to play right through to the last whislte in a very difficult situation.
