Bears forward Sasha Malenfant chases a loose puck Sunday in battle against the Hounds. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Bears Hockey

Bears swept by Hounds; tip their caps to Olympic referee

Feb 20, 2022 | 3:42 PM

The Prince Albert Northern Bears will head into the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League as the fifth-place team, as they have 29 points with three games remaining.

The Bears found this out after getting defeated by the Notre Dame Hounds 3-1 on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday.

Bears’ Sasha Malenfant scored in both games for the Bears, getting the lone goal in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat, before scoring the 4-2 goal to get the Bears within striking distance on Sunday.

On Saturday’s game, Malenfant scored the lone goal in the first period, before the Bears got in penalty trouble in the second. The Hounds scored their first two goals on the power play from Kiara Merriman and Amy Dvernichuk, before adding a third from Ryann Perrett.

The Hounds got off to a 2-0 lead on Sunday with goals from Merriman and Ellie Gauvin. Sophia Zuck scored a rebound on the Bears’ power play near the end of the frame. Merriman and Kyra Anderson scored in the second period to extend the Hounds’ lead to 4-2 after 40 minutes of play.

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Malenfant would get the Bears in the game at 4-2, Anderson would get her second of the game to make it 5-2 just 11 seconds later. Bears captain Paige Dawson scored on the power play to make it 5-3, before Alyssa Rasmuson filled the empty net for the Hounds.

Referee Cianna Lieffers drops the ceremonial faceoff at the Bears, Hounds game on Saturday after returning from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in between Bears captain Paige Dawson and Hounds’ Kaitlyn Gilroy. (Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Welcome back from Beijing

Referees drop opening faceoffs literally every game, but it’s not often that they participate in the ceremonial faceoffs. Cudworth’s Cianna Lieffers got that treatment before Saturday’s contest between the Bears and the Hounds, after the now Saskatoon-based referee had returned from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Lieffers was a referee in seven games throughout the Olympic games. She became viral after taking a high stick from America forward Amanda Kessel on Feb. 8. But after some quick repairs, Lieffers was able to return and finish the game and the rest of the tournament.

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jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW