Feb 19-21/15 vs Norman Wild Round 1 of the playoffs

This is it - the moment the team has been waiting for...game one of the first round of the playoffs. The Hawks, with their second place standing, drew the Norman Wild as their opponents in the first round. Hosting their neighbours to the north, the Hawks took to the ice on Friday, Feb 19th, in Morden for game one. Even though the Hawks had owned the Wild throughout the course of the regular season, nothing could be taken for granted in the pursuit of another provincial championship. In the post season, every game, every period, every shift counts. The coaches have spent all season getting the girls ready for this moment. Missing the first game, and likely the series would be Captain Jenai and Ginny, two vets with a lot of experience and strength, as they rest up and get themselves prepared for the extended season push. Being called up for this game and possibly more, would be Janelle Delaquis. 

From the first drop of the puck, the home team looked to gain an advantage in momentum. Forcing the play early and often, the girls started peppering the Wild goalie with shots. The Hawks would be rewarded with their first goal of the game with 5:10 left in the first, when Megan took a feed from the corner and blasted a shot through traffic. Getting the assists on the goal were Sage and Makenzie McCallum. Then, less than three minutes later, it would be Makenzie McCallum, using her strength and grit to fight off a check at the opposing blue line and skating in, fired a shot low blocker side, putting the home team up by two. Drawing assists on that play were Chloe and Janelle. With no other scoring in the first, the Hawks headed into the dressing room up 2-0 and outshooting the Wild 12-2. Pembina Valley took to the ice in the second with the same intensity in the second, this time scoring earlier in the frame. 9:43 into the second, it would be Alyssa scoring, by cleaning up the rebound in front of the Wild netminder, with assists going to Sage and Chelsea. The Wild would respond with a goal of their own, when a pass up front, from behind Taylor, bounced up and deflected off the PV goalie's shoulder and luckily, for Norman, into the back of the net. Not four minutes later though, the Hawks would restore the three goal cushion when Sage fired a low shot on net, that found it's way through a forest of legs and sticks, and into the back of the net, for her third point of the night. Mackenzie Hutchinson drew the assist on that marker. That would be it for scoring in the second, as the Hawks sat comfortably in front after two periods of play, by a score of 4-1. Shots in that period registered 20-5 for the home team. In the third, the girls weren't content just sitting on their haunches, as they continued to press. The fifth goal of the game, came off the stick of the always hard-working, Lindsay Michiels. Lindsay fired a wrist shot from the high slot, beating the Wild netminder, after great work by Hannah and Brooklyn passing down low. With 3:13 left in the game, Hutch would score a powerplay goal as she was parked in front of the Norman net. Getting assists on that PP goal were Hannah and Abbey. To finish off the scoring, it would be Alyssa who picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and using her speed to generate a breakaway, she used her trademark quick, low shot to beat the goaltender five-hole to seal the 7-2 victory. Shots in the final frame were 18-6, making the total 50-13. Game 2 goes Saturday, Feb 20th, at 5:15 pm.

Game two saw the girls take a little longer to score the first goal of the game, but they showed the same level of intensity as the first match up. After completely dominating the first frame, Chelsea would finally get the girls on the board with her first of two goals of the night. A feed from Sage along the side boards to Kenzie at the point, led to a shot from the blue line from #18. As the goaltender made the routine save, Chelsea skated in completely uncontested and swatted in the rebound, putting the Hawks up by one, with 2:46 left on the clock. With only the one goal in the first, the girls would keep the pressure on for the rest of the game. The shots after one were 15-3. Chelly's second of the game would come at the 10:24 mark of the second. A shot, by Chloe at the blue line, was touch-deflected by Sage over to a wide open Chelsea, who made no mistake, depositing the puck past the helpless Norman netminder. The Hawks would continue to dominate the play, continually pressing and using their speed and passing to contol the majority of the puck possession game. Then, with only :46 left on in the frame, Sage would score her first of the game, her third point on the night. After a good hard forecheck by Chelsea led to a turnover, Hannah would a great job keeping the puck in the zone at the opposing blue line. Some good passing later, it would be Sage cleaning up a quick repond, on a shot from the corner from Hannah. The shots in the second period were the Hawks doubling up on the Wild 12-6. The third period saw the Hawks score one more time, this time, a powerplay marker from Hutch at the blue line. With a defeated looking Wild team trying to defend their zone, the Hawks passed the puck around at will, when Mackenzie ended up with the puck just above the circles. She let loose a low shot that looked like it was misfired, but the puck slid along the ice through traffic and past the Wild goalie, who had no clue where it was. This would make it 4-0, which would be the final score. Shots were 13-6 in the third, for an overall total of 40-15, and would give the Hawks a stranglehold on the series. Game 3 goes Sunday, Feb 21, at 11:15 am.

Game three would prove to be the deciding game in the series, with the Hawks wanting to advance without the need to go up north for a game four. The Hawks, much like the regular season series, handled the Wild with relative ease. Scoring would start for Pembina Valley 5:14 into the first. Sage would get the Hawks up early after taking a feed from Chelsea and Alyssa, and wristing a shot high blocker side. Just over a minute later, Makenzie McCallum got in on the scoring action. A shot from newcomer, Janelle Delaquis, found the rebound steered to the side of the net. There Katie picked up the loose puck and slid it over to McCallum, alone at the side of the net. A quick one-timer made it a 2-0 game. With 7:45 left in the first, the Hawks would make it 3-0. A high shot by Sage handcuffed the goalie, and when the puck dropped to the ice, Chelly, with great net awareness, streched out and wrapped it around to the open side of the net. Shots after one period of play were 20-3 for the home team. In the second, the Hawks would score another two goals, at 8:48 and again at 7:12. The first of the frame came from Janelle, who nicely followed up the play. After an extended battle along the boards behind the Wild net, the puck finally came free and made it to the point. A shot on net couldn't be corralled by Katie, but McCallum swooped in and got a few whacks in before the puck was deflected to the open side of the net, where Delaquis would shoot it in, registering her first goal as a Pembina Valley Hawk. The next goal was one the team had been waiting for for a long time. Abbey picked up a loose puck at the red line, and with her linemates on a change, she skated into the zone and unleashed a laser for a slap shot, beating the goalie high glove side, for her first goal of the season. The crowd's reaction and the smile on Abbey's face was priceless, everyone was happy for the veteran Hawks defenseman. There would be no other goals in the second, and the shots in that frame were 14-5. In the third, the Wild would finally be able to answer with one of their own. An attempt to keep the puck in the Norman zone failed and a two on one resulted, heading into the Hawks zone. A pass over the open side was successfully read by Mackenzie defending the odd man rush. Sticking out her stick to attempt to block the shot, resulted in a soft deflection, just enough to sneak past Taylor on her glove side, giving the visitors a chance to finally cheer. The Hawks would add one insurance marker late in the game, with only :44 left, when Janelle netted her second of the game. On a two on one rush, with a defenseman all over her, Katie pulled the puck over to her backhand and slid it over to Janelle who was wide open in the slot. A slick forehand to backhand move completely fooled the goalie and the rookie slid the puck into the yawning cage for her second of the contest. The final score would end up 6-1, with the final shots on goal 49-13, ending the season for the Norman Wild. The Hawks would like to thank the Wild for a great series and for coming down to play the three games in Morden. Although success eluded their friends from the north, the Wild have a young team and will have learned a great deal from this season, which will help them to prepare for next year.