Midget A Mavericks Skate Past Gold Wings

It took about half a period for the Moose Jaw Midget A Mavericks to find their skating legs but once they did there was no looking back as they defeated the Weyburn Gold Wings 9 - 1 in Saskatchewan Female Hockey League action on Saturday afternoon.

The opening minutes of the first period saw the smaller Mavericks come away with some good scoring chances as their speed overpowered the Gold Wings.

At the 19:21 mark Lindsay Daniel was threaded a pass out front but Weyburn's goaltender Aaliyah McLean made a pad save.

The Mavericks next great opportunity came at the 18:32 mark as Taryn Sandbeck picked the puck up off of the boards and used her speed to get around the Gold Wings defence but was stopped by McLean.

The Mavericks finally got on the board at 11:08 as Nikita Halyk continued her scoring ways from Bantam putting it blocker side on a pass back from Ember DuSomme with Sidney Ellingson.

The Mavericks would continue dominate play for the remainder of the period when after good work behind the net by Kaelyn Logan led to a pass out front to Makayla Anderson who put it in the top left corner glove side on McLean.

It was the first of Anderson's four goals for the afternoon after sitting out the 2018-2019 season due to a major knee injury.

The Mavericks tested McLean late in the period at the 27 second mark when a screen shot on goal made it through traffic and two big rebound saves were made close in.

Shots on goal after the first period were 19 - 3 in the Mavericks' favour.

Nikita Halyk nets her second goal on the power play past Gold Wings goaltender Aaliyah McLean in the second period - MJ Independent Photo

The second period once again saw the Mavericks using their speed to get at the Gold Wings.

At 17:12 Halyk would score on the power play from just off the crease mid net glove side on McLean after good work along the boards by DuSomme and Eowyn Stokes on the assist.

The scoring would continue when at 15:36 Anderson would score on a shot along the ice assisted by Ellingson.

The next goal was a shorthanded marker when Anderson would take a shot from the slot at the 13:00 mark giving her a hat trick assisted by Lindsay Daniel.

Weyburn showed some frustration when they were assessed a cross checking penalty behind the play as they were breaking out of their own end at the 9:40 mark.

The fourth Mavericks goal of the second period came on the resulting power play with Ellingson scoring on a wrist hand shot from the slot at the 9:21 mark with DuSomme and Mattea May picking up the assist. See a video of the goal below.

Weyburn would break Sydnee Christmann's shutout hopes on their third power play of the period at the 2:20 mark. Katelyn Muchowski standing just outside the crease immediately released a shot along the ice after a pass from Trista Stadnyk from behind the net. Presleigh Runge received an assist.

Second period shots on goal were 17 - 2 in the Maverick’s favour.

Eowyn Stokes in front of the Weyburn net - MJ Independent Photo

The third period would see the Mavericks come out looking for more twine early as Taryn Sandbeck at the 19:20 mark would ring a shot off of the post glove side from the slot after a pass from DuSomme.

The Mavericks had to wait until the 14:28 mark to get their seventh marker. Stokes flipped the puck from the right wing on a sharp angle and while attempting to catch it McLean tipped it into her own net.

The Mavericks notched a power play marker at the 10:29 mark on a redirection of a Courtney Botterill shot by Anderson.

Less than a minute later the Mavericks would wrap up the scoring on their ninth goal when breaking into the Weyburn end Anderson dropped the puck back to a trailing Stokes who would wrist hand it into the center of the net.

Third period shots on goal were 14 to 7 in the Mavericks favour. The overall game shots on goal were 50 for Moose Jaw and 12 for Weyburn.

Eowyn Stokes picks up the puck as goaltender Sydnee Christmann looks on - MJ Independent Photo

“I was really pleased with the girls today,” Mavericks' head coach Mike Botterill said.

“We won it because of three things - effort, talent and hockey smarts…it took some time to get back our skating legs and playing with a new line mates is a little bit tough but after the first ten minutes they connected and they never looked back,” Botterill said.

Asked about who would be awarded the green helmet, awarded to the best Maverick player if the game Botterill said “we hadn't talked about doing that yet.” When pressed who he would award it to he replied “the whole team. We really had a good effort from everybody.”

“I'm super impressed with how all of our three lines and how they came together.”

Regarding Weyburn Botterill said “they're goalie played extremely well. She did a really good job.”

Asked about the return of Makayla Anderson to a Mavericks lineup after a year off recovering from a serious knee injury Botterill said “she is a bit out of shape (after a year off recovering) but makes up for it in hockey smarts and hard work.”

Anderson had four goals and an assist against Weyburn.

Regarding sending in a player deep into the opposition end of the rink while killing penalties - something the Bantam A Mavericks did effectively the past two seasons - Botterill said “why change something that works?”

“It is proven it works well…that is the great thing about coaching in the Mavericks program there is a continuum there…it's the same staff and girls.”

Coach Botterill said during upcoming practices he plans to work on the team's successes and focus on conditioning.

The Midget A Mavericks next game is October 25th against the Prairie Storm Thunder in Balgonie.