2014 MINNESOTA MAYHEM TOURNAMENT
CAPS FINISH 4th in MINNESOTA
The Caps made the Final 4 at the Minnesota Mayhem Tournament in St. Paul Minnesota where they were matched up against the Madison Capitols in the Semi-finals. The first time these teams met on the first day of the tournament they battled to a 0-0 draw. This was not going to be the case in the semi-final rematch as the older bigger Madison team came out hard in the first period and caught the Caps off guard and not ready for their 8:00 a.m. game. Madsion would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and only solid goaltending from Lauren Taraschuk kept the score close as the Caps were outshot 16-1. The Coaching staff challenged the Caps not to give in and up their compete level and although they allowed the only goal of the 2nd period on the a 5 on 3 penalty kill to fall behind 2-0 the Caps outshot Madison 11-6 and outplayed them 5 on 5. The Caps built on this and in the 3rd period continued to win more battles and out chance Madison drawing penalties that allowed them to score 2 power play goals and even the score. 5 minutes of OT solved nothing and the teams went to a shootout to deternmine who would move onto the Tournament Championship, Madison out scored the Caps 3-1 in the SO to take a 3-2 win. The Caps recovered from a poor first period to get goals from Bryn Schmidt and Tamara Mcvannel who both scored on shots from the point during power plays. The Caps outshot the Capitols 32 -17 after the 1st period including 6-1 in the OT but could not get the winner hitting a couple of posts as they continued to carry the play.
The Coaching staff was extremely pleased with the way the team never quit all weekend against some older bigger teams and improved on their compete and battle levels throughout the tournament.
The Caps now return to MFMHL play next weekend with 2 games:
Caps Make Semi-finals
The Caps finished the round robin portion of the Minnesota Mayhem Tournament with a record of 1-1-1 which has qualified them for the tournament semi-finals as a top 4 team in the 10 team event. The Caps now play at 8:20 a.m. vs. the Madison U19 Capitols who they tied 0-0 the first night of the tournament. The Caps expect a fast physical game from the older and bigger Capitols and will have to use their speed and play tough on the puck to be successful.
Game 3 - Caps vs. Minnesota REvolution U19 - The Caps lost 1-0 to the #9 ranked U19 team in the USA in the best game of the weekend. In a fast paced hard fought game the Revolution found a way to score on one power play while the Caps were unable to convert on their opportunities. All 3 lines for the Caps had very good offensive zone time and created some quality chances however could not find a way to score. The Coaches were very pleased with the Caps ability to maintain the pace set by the older Revolution team along with the high compete and effort level put forth by the entire squad.
Game 2 - Caps vs. Minnesota Revolution U16 - The Caps got 2 goals from Mekaela Fisher and a shutout performance from Lauren Taraschuk in net to pick up a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Revolution. The Caps controlled the first 2 periods outshooting the Revolution 19-4 but went into the third period with a slim 1-0 lead. Fisher gave the Caps a 2 goal cushion when she scored off a scramble on the power play. Sheridan Oswald assisted on both of the Caps goals.The Caps then withstood a push back by the Revolution who outshot the Caps 12-11 in the third period with several of those shots coming down the stretch especially after the Revolution pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Taraschuk made several key saves to hold onto the shutout and give the Caps the win.
Game 1 - Caps vs. Madison U19 Capitols - In a tight checking contest the Capitals matched up with the Capitols who big strong U19 team from Madison Wisconsin with neither team being able to get a goal to decided the contest. Kathleen Kosior was not busy in net for the Caps stopping all 15 shots fired her way while the Caps fired 14 back at the Madison net. Both goalies made several key saves to maintain the shutout.
