By Jeff D'Andrea

Bears lose another close one, 3-2 to Gold Wings

Oct 15, 2011 | 7:44 PM

Like they have all season, the Prince Albert A&W Bears were competitive and right in the game, but lost a close one, a 3-2 loss to the Weyburn Gold Wings.

The loss puts the Bears winless in their first six games with an 0-5-0-1 record but their schedule has been very tough to start the season. Their first two games were against the first place Saskatoon Stars (5-0) and their next four were against the Gold Wings, also undefeated at 5-0.

According to Bears assistant coach Lynn Regnier, the tough start hasn’t been from lack of effort.

“The one thing you gotta say is the girls are working as hard as they can, but at the end of the day, we’re not getting the W’s,” said Regnier. “We’re there and competing, but we’re losing by one, we’re losing by two, but we’re not giving up. That’s a positive for us.

“They’re always battling, maybe we’re not in the right spots in the right time. Hopefully in the future it gets a little better and we can capitalize on some of our chances.”

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Assistant captain Kaitlin Willoughby, who scored a hat trick Friday and an assist on Saturday, said the team simply has to let the start roll of their backs and make sure they support each other.

“We just have to put it behind us and we have to build together as a team and use each other to build this team together and use each other to score goals,” said Wiloughby.

Willoughby was named recently to represent Team Saskatchewan at the U18 Nationals Nov. 2-6 in Saguenay, Quebec. Three Gold Wings were also selected to the team in goaltender Jane Kish, defenceman Jocelyn Sabourin and forward Sarah Spence.

Willoughby said with her experience in trying out for and making the U18 team as a 16-year-old has given her more confidence, both on the ice and in the dressing room.

“It kind of helps me be a leader and just push each other, push my team to do better,” said Willoughby. “I’m really excited to go to Quebec, it should be a fun time.”

One issue that has plagued the Bears at times were turnovers in their own zone, mostly when they have tried to breakout of their zone. Late in the third period, Regnier recalled two times when the

Bears tried to clear the zone, but the Gold Wings kept it in each time and Sarah Spence eventually scored the game winner.

“That’s probably where we have to work on, we have to get it out of our zone,” said Regnier. “We’ll go into practice and the girls are aware of it, we talk about it in between periods and everything else but at the same time, we’re trying to encourage them and lead them in the right direction so everything’s positive.”

Eleesha Cooper gave the Bears a 1-0 lead after the first period with a point shot, but the Gold Wings scored two powerplay goals in the second after the Bears took a slew of penalties.

“We killed off two 5-on-3’s but they finally capitalized and got the lead on us,” said Regnier. “The penalties really hurt us lots in the second.”

Carlee Hrenkiw scored 25 seconds into the third to tie the game for the Bears and the rest of the period was scoreless until Spence’s game winner late in the frame.

The Bears are back on the road this weekend against the Regina Rebels (2-1) Oct. 22-23.

jdandrea@panow.com