Caps Finish 1-3 in First Trip to Provincial Championship
| Game 1 - Pembina Valley 10 - Caps 2 After several very good outings vs. the top team in the MFMHL the Caps could not stay with the Hawks in Hartney. The game was close after a well played first period that saw the Hawks take a 2-1 lead. Natasha Kostenko scored the Caps goal after they fell behind 2-0 with assists going to Taylor McVannel and Shaye Nelissen. At this point it appeared that the Caps and Hawks would have another battle on their hands however the Hawks exploded for 6 unanswered goals in the 2nd and put the game away. Kostenko scored another in the 3rd giving her 31 on the year with assists going to to McVannel and Katie Nichol to close out the scoring for the Caps. |
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| Game 2 - APHA Rangers 4 - Caps 3 The Caps rebounded with a strong performance against last year's Provincial Champions and this year's finalist actually outplaying the Rangers and getting solid goaltending from Taylor Mutcher in a tough 4-3 loss. The Caps got 1st period goals from AP Karissa Kirkup and Katie Nichol as the period ended knotted up at 2-2. Jillene Rodgers picked up the assist on the first goal with helpers going to Kirkup and Rodgers on the second. Kostenko scored the lone goal of the 2nd period with assists going to McVannel and Nelissen to give the Caps a 3-2 intermission lead. The Rangers came out and scored 2 in the 3rd with the Caps actually having most of the play. The last 6-7 minutes of the 3rd period were almost entirely played in the Rangers end with the Caps having numerous quality chances, the best of those with under a minute to play. With a face off in the Rangers end and the net empty for a 6th attacker Kostenko won the face off clean to Nelissen on the point who got off a hard slapshot through the screen only to see the puck glance off the goalie and creep by the post. The Caps outshot the Rangers 38 - 25. |
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| Game 3 - Caps 4 - Yellowhead 0 The Caps came to play on Saturday evening as they faced MFMHL league rivals Yellowhead in an elimination game and came out on top 4-0. The Caps came out flying in the 1st period and took a 2-0 lead on 2 goals from Kostenko (33rd & 34th). Assists on the first went to McVannel and Nikki Bell with Nelissen picking up the lone assist on the 2nd. The Chiefs came out with some pressure in the 2nd period and Abby Cathcart made several key saves to keep the intermission score at 2-0. The 3rd period was all Caps as they outshot the Chiefs 14 - 4 and were constantly in their end creating quality scoring chances off of very good forechecking and cycles down low. In what might have been the best period of hockey for the young Caps this year they increaed their lead to 4-0 on goals by Jillene Rodgers and Katie Nichol. Assists went to Kirkup and Stephanie Fehr with Nichol's goal being unassisted. Abby Cathcart was very solid in net and although not over worked with 21 shots made several key saves while the score was 1-0 and 2-0 especially in the 2nd period. |
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| Game 4 - Eastman 5 - Caps 1 (2 empty net) In a game that never saw the Caps get their forecheck going like the night before they appeared tired and ran out of gas against an aggressive Eastman team that had played one less game and not since Saturday morning. The score was 2-1 after the 1st with Jillene Rodgers netting her 2nd of the weekend with Kirkup picking up the assist. Eastman made it 3-1 with the lone goal of the 2nd. It remained that way throughout the 3rd until the Caps pulled goalie Mykala Rodgers who gave a solid performance in net for a 6th attacker and Eastman put 2 more into the empty net. |
