Midget A Mavericks Win Rainy Day Grinder

It may have been a cold and wet Saturday afternoon with the ice conditions heavy and not ideal but the Moose Jaw Midget A Mavericks managed to grind out a 3 -2 win over top of the visiting Saskatoon Comet Predators.

In a game which saw the ice conditions not ideal to the Mavericks fast skating style of play it was one where at the end of it all head coach Mike Botterill breathed a sigh of relief with the victory. It was a game though which was highly entertaining for the larger number of fans who showed up.

In a first period dominated by the Mavericks the local squad managed to only score one goal on the power play at the 8:52 mark when after a series of shots Makayla Anderson managed to put it past Comet Predators goaltender Taylin Young. The assist went to Kaelyn Logan. The goal is in the video below.

The Mavericks powerplay opportunity resulted when the Timmies powered Nikita Halyk was battling in the Comet Predators end and she was hooked by Adrianna Wilson.

The Moose Jaw squad had other great opportunities to add to their lead throughout the period but were unable to do so.

At the 4:44 mark Sidney Ellingson manged to stickhandle her way past the Comet Predators defence only to be beaten by Young on the backhand shot.

Mavericks defence got into the shooting department when Mattea May broke out past the Saskatoon defence on the left wing only to have her wrist hand shot headed for the twine stopped in a glove save by Young.

The standout moment for Saskatoon came just over a minute later when Jessica Gregor used her speed, momentum to bank the puck off of the boards and get past the Maverick’s defender but she was stopped with a glove save by goaltender Schay Campaugh.

Shots on goal for the first period were 20 - 3 in the Mavericks favour with Saskatoon not getting its first shot on goal until 12 minutes into the period.

As much as the Mavericks dominated the first period the second period was in some degree dominated by the weather conditons and the heavy ice conditions which resulted. It was a period where something mysteriously tripped up the two teams with Mavericks players falling down for no apparent reason no less than 14 times.

Despite the lack of speed the Mavericks did manage to score the lone goal of the period when Anderson would skate out with the puck from the left wing corner in a half moon circular fashion and then score on Young from the front of the net at the 11:47 mark. Assists went to Mattea May and Sydney Ellingson.

Second period shots on goal were 17 - 9 in the Mavericks favour.

As much at the first two periods were dominated by the Mavericks the first ten minutes of the third period saw a seemingly re-energized Comet Predators largely control the first half of the period.

It all paid off for the visiting squad when Kara Irvine would break through the Mavericks defence and push the puck along the ice and between the pads of Camphaug to end any thoughts of a shutout.

Saskatoon would continue to press until the Mavericks broke out and Eowyn Stokes would skate in on an S pattern and score the game winner on the forehand at the 9:59 mark assisted by Anderson and Lidsay Daniel.

Despite the deficit Saskatoon pulled out all of the stops in the final minutes of the period and almost managed to tie it.

With their net empty and working in close Irvine would score her second goal for Saskatoon skating from the left side to the right side of the crease scoring into the empty side of the net past a sprawling Camphaug with 1:20 left in the third period. The assist would go to Brooke Harper.

When play restarted Saskatoon would once again pull their goaltender for the sixth attacker and the final minute saw a grinding game in the Mavericks end of the ice with Saskatoon unable to find the tieing goal.

It was a relieved Mavericks head coach Mike Botterill who admitted the game was good for the fans but tough on the coaching staff who would like to see the game decided much earlier.

“We played 55 really good minutes they played those five good minutes and it was close,” Botterill said.

“It was one of those games out there where we had to grind all of the time,” he said adding despite the Mavericks ultimately outshooting the Comet Predators 49 to 21 that every shot was earned by grinding away.

Despite the heavy ice (due to the weather) seemingly inhibiting the Mavericks style of play Botterill said the ice was not a factor but the team fully expected it to be a grinding game against Saskatoon and had a game plan in preparation of it.

Asked about the Mavericks more disciplined style of play and only taking two penalties he said “it is something we talked about before the game not to take any bad penalties. No hooking or tripping penalties.”

The recipient of the Green Helmet as the Mavericks player who excelled went to Sidney Ellingson.

With the win the Mavericks now have a 5 wins and 1 loss record.

Next weekend the squad is in Montana playing at an under 19 tournament which will see teams from Canada and the United States compete.