Mavericks Clip The Gold Wings In Game One Of A Home And Home

It was a bit of a flat start for the Moose Jaw Bantam A Mavericks against the Weyburn Creekside Car Wash Gold Wings but a save on a penalty shot early in the second period by goaltender Sara Umana lit the spark as the Moose Jaw defeated Weyburn 8 - 3 on Friday evening.

First Period

The first period saw only one goal when the Mavericks Morgan Loney scored at the 16:45 mark assisted by Kaydance Ray.

The Mavericks Kaydance Ray tries to break in from the left wing on the Gold Wings net - MJ Independent photo

Second Period

Moose Jaw would take a two goal lead when Loney took a shot from the right wing along the ice that beat Weyburn’s netminder Karley Martin. The unassisted marker came at the 12:52 mark.

Weyburn finally got on the board when Talyn Johnston received a pass back from Delaney Knoll and then took a slapshot that temporarily arched before hitting the ice and going past Umana. The goal came at the 9:04 mark.

Moose Jaw would once again regain a two goal lead when Jennika Stevenson scored on a close in shot that went over top of Martin and into the net. An assist went to Ray. The time of the goal was 3:18.

Moose Jaw score what proved to be the winning goal at the 3:00 minute mark ;when Ray would skate past Martin and after two tries find the twine on the backhand. Assists when to Ray and Stevenson.

Weyburn would get their second goal when Johnston skated in close and took a wristhand shot that beat Umana. Time of the goal was 2:34.

Mavericks Morgan Loney (center) attempts to steal the puck from the Gold Wings Mickenzie Whitford - MJ Independent photo

Third Period

The third period saw the Mavericks firing on all cylinders after the first two periods which saw the home squad not play up to their potential. The Mavericks were able to eliminated most opportunities by Weyburn and continually pressured the visitors.

Moose Jaw would net the insurance marker when Ray would take a pass from Loney and then skated past the net from left to right and then wrist handing it into the Weyburn net. at 17:27. Allison Duncan would also assisted on the goal.

Weyburn would respond when Emily Brigley would get a pass back to the point where she would step in about eight feet from the blue line and then with a wristhand put it past Umana up high in the top corner on the blocker side. Time of the unassisted marker was 15:48.

The Mavericks would further pad their lead at the 14:05 mark when Stevenson would take a wrist hand on what was likely a screenshot as a Mavericks player skated past Martin. Assists went to Ray and Loney. Time of the goal was 14:05.

A low shot would beat Martin as the Mavericks Ray scored at the 6:05 Kianna Hrechka recorded the assist.

The final Mavericks goal had Arlie Fleet skate in from the left wing and then curving out front of the net stuffing the goal past the sprawling Martin. Time of the unassisted marker was 2:41.

Callie Callaghan found herself briefly on the ice - MJ Independent photo

Mavericks head coach Jeremy Howe called the game a mixed bag for the Mavericks.

“I thought we had a very good third period we were pretty scrambly in the first two periods,” Howe said.

Asked if he saw the penalty shot awarded Weyburn as a major turning point in the game Howe replied “absolutely.”

Umana making the save helped to ensure the Mavericks had the momentum for the remainder of the game as it was not decided at that point.

He admitted the payers were saying that the shot would not go in as “the players on the bench were saying that it is no problem because (goaltender) Sara (Umana) would stop it…they were rallying on the bench even before it happened.”

About the team taking only one penalty instead of the ten they took in their first game of the season against Estevan he said the team was “more disciplined.”

In their last game in Regina Howe said the team had taken a couple of bad penalties that eliminated great scoring opportunities.

Despite a score that would indicate an easy win in the rematch Howe said the team is not taking anything for chance.

“If we outwork them we will win. If we put the effort into it we have a good chance of winning.”

Game two of the home and home goes tomorrow at 6:30 pm in Weyburn.

Sara Umana played another solid game - MJ Independent photo