Hounds take Game 1 over Bears

Including Thursday’s playoff win at the Art Hauser Centre, Ross now has a 3-0 record this year against the Bears and has stopped 90 of 95 shots in those games. She also led the SFMAAAHL in the regular season with a .942 save percentage, along with the fourth best goals against average in 1.88.

“Playing against one of the best goalies in the league, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy to score goals,” Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby said. “We know we have to put more work in front of their net, we can’t take things for granted. I think we might have been soft on a couple loose pucks.

“Their first goal was just them being persistent. We can do it too. We just have to do it.”

After a scoreless first period, the Hounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period. To Willougby’s point, Kaitlyn Gilroy scored the Hounds’ first goal of the game by jamming home a rebound. The Hounds extended their lead by scoring on a 5-on-3 power play, with Claire Nimegeers finishing off a one-timer just outside the Bears’ crease.

“The second period, we didn’t start how we wanted. We faced a 5-on-3 [penalty kill] which they scored on,” Willoughby said. “Bad luck. I thought we had some very good shifts in the first, and just didn’t transpire in the second.”

The Bears were able to claw back into the game with a strong game from Kailey Ledoux, who had a goal and an assist in the game. Defender Jessie Herner assisted on both the Bears’ goals, but that’s as close as they would get. Keara Merriman’s goal in the third period stood as the game winner for the Hounds.

The Bears also found themselves in a unique position, having sent Abby Soyko, Jadyn Kushniruk, Miranda Heidt and Kate Ball to the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer from Feb. 23 to March 2. They may have been a little fatigued from the tournament, while the rest of the team had been waiting to play since Feb. 16.

“We had four players that were maybe, perhaps on the tired side from playing six games in Red Deer. And we got the others that are just maybe a little bit rusty. It was a strange mixture,” Willoughby said. “But it’s nice to be in the grind again and get everybody involved.”

For a good cause

The Bears auctioned off their specialty Broncos Strong jerseys after the game in the Johnny Bower Lobby. They raised over $5,000 in donations towards the SJHL Mental Assistance Fund.

Playoff history

The Bears have been a perennial favourite in recent history to get to the finals. They’ve reach the finals in three of the past four years—winning it all in the 2016-17 season. Seven current Bears were a part of that championship winning team—Abby Soyko, Alli Soyko, Kate Ball, Jasper Desmarais, Jadyn Kushniruk and Brooklyn Anderson. The Bears also won the 2008-09 league championship.

The Bears beat the Hounds in four games, during the second round of last year’s playoffs.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

1-0, Hounds, Kaitlyn Gilroy from Lyndsey Janes, 0:45

2-0, Hounds, Claire Nimegeers from Raea Gilroy and Ally Kosteniuk (power play), 13:10

2-1, Bears, Kailey Ledoux from Haley Kicia and Jessie Herner, 16:16

Third Period

3-1, Hounds, Keara Merriman (unassisted), 6:40

3-2, Bears, Paris Oleksyn from Jesse Herner and Kailey Ledoux, 7:17

Up next

The Bears will play the Hounds on Saturday in Wilcox for Game 2. Game 3 will be on Monday, 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW

by Jeff D'Andrea

Hounds take Game 1 over Bears

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