Bears split two against Esso Cup hosting Gold Wings

“We want to be there in April. We have a lot of work to do, but to say that we’re similar to them is probably the right thing.”

If the Bears do manage to qualify for the national championship, they’ll have to do it without goaltender Jessica Vance. Vance set four different Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League records in the five years she played with the Bears. http://panow.com/article/507038/vance-graduates-bears-leaves-legacy

Shayla Youngman was Vance’s backup for the last two seasons and both fed off of each other to improve their games.

“We’re two different goalies, we learned off of each other,” said Youngman, who was named as Sunday’s first star of the game. “She’s good at some parts and I’m good at some parts. With that, we just compare and work on our differences.”

Now that apprenticeship is up, Youngman is now the 17-year-old veteran in goal with 15-year-old Ryan Fontaine starting her Midget AAA career.

Youngman got the win on Sunday by making 18 saves on 19 shots in the 2-1 win. That gives her 14^th career win in her 20^th appearance since joining the Bears in the 2013 season.

Last year, Youngman had three shutouts and a 7-2 record in 10 appearances, to go along with a .910 save percentage and 2.13 goals against average.

But if the opening weekend is any indication, Fontaine will see her fair share of ice time as well. Fontaine, who is from Prince Albert, got the nod on Saturday and made 18 saves on 21 shots in the 3-2 defeat.

“Performances by our goaltenders are really important, they have to give us a chance to win. Shayla did today and our goalie Ryan yesterday, she did the same thing,” said Willoughby. “That’s our message to our goalies, they have to give us a chance to win and they did.”

Bears 2 Gold Wings 1

Abby Soyko scored on a slap shot from traffic through the point to get the Bears off to a quick 1-0 start. Jensen Hammer tied the game with just 4.3 seconds left in the opening frame.

Ireland South got the 2-1 go-ahead midway through the second, which ended up being the game winner.

Saturday’s recap: Gold Wings 3 Bears 2

Bears defender Brooke Hobson scored the first goal of the season for Prince Albert, 12 minutes into the first period, assisted by fellow P.A. product Kaytlyn Chickowski.

The Gold Wings Elise Endicott and Bailee Bourassa scored twice within the first 16 minutes of the second period to take a 2-1 lead before 14-year-old rookie Jadyn Kushniruk tied the game heading into the third.

With 6:14 left in the game, Elise Endicott scored her second of the game to give the Gold Wings the 3-2 win.

Bears 15-year-old rookie Ryan Fontaine made 18 saves on 21 shots in her first ever Midget AAA appearance. Chantal Burke made 19 saves for the Gold Wings in the victory.

The Bears are off to Melville for a two-game set against the Prairie Fire Oct. 10-11. They’ll return for two games against the Swift Current Wildcats Oct. 16-17.

jdandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_dandrea

by Jeff D'Andrea

Bears split two against Esso Cup hosting Gold Wings

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