Solid weekend for the female Chiefs

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Published on Saturday, November 21, 2015

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The Female AAA Midget Yellowhead Chiefs jumped on the bus on Thursday afternoon last week and motored south to participate in the Shattuck St. Mary’s Jamboree tournament.

 The first destination was St. Cloud Minnesota, where the players and coaches practiced at the Herb Brooks National training center on the campus of St. Cloud State University. After the practice, an assistant coach at St. Cloud State gave the players and parents a tour of the hockey facilities.

The team carried on towards Faribault MN, the home of Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep school. Game one that evening was against the St. Mary’s Flames prep team from Winnipeg. The first period was quickly over with neither team scoring and the Chiefs having to kill off two penalties in the 17 minute frame. Ye llowhead opened the scoring early in the second period as Jalyn Elmes hit Cass Lyttle with a great breakout pass in the neutral zone. Lyttle carried the puck into the offensive zone on a three on two and made a great pass to Tatum Amy. With Hannah Fouillard driving to the net, Amy snapped a perfect shot high to the glove side. St. Mary’s would tie the game later in the period as a puck bounced over a stick and ended up with a breakaway chance that the Flames capitalized on. Tied at 1-1 in the third, it was a suspect penalty call that was the difference. Having another solid game in goal, Emma Greenwood made a sliding pad save and her stick tangled with a St. Mary’s player who fell, leading the referee to call a tripping penalty. St. Mary’s scored on the power-play, and despite some great pressure as the game ended, the Chiefs couldn’t get the tying goal.

Game two was early Saturday morning; a match-up with the host Shattuck St. Mary’s U19 Prep team. The Chiefs knew they were in for a battle as the Sabres are one of the top teams in the USA. Yellowhead faced this challenge head on and with Miranda Cook holding down the fort in goal, battled to a 2-2 tie after one period. The goals came from McKenna Paddock on a high wrister from the point that eluded the goalkeeper and a banged in rebound goal from Karli Frederick after Jena Barscello made some nifty moves in the slot to get a shot on goal. The Chiefs wouldn’t score again in the game, despite continuing to have chances. Shattuck added one in the second period and two more goals in the third for a 5-2 final.

Later on Saturday, game three saw the Chiefs facing another Winnipeg prep team in the Shaftesbury Titans. The Chiefs played another solid game, displaying their solid team play with great puck movement. Shaftesbury opened the scoring on the power-play in the second period, as a scramble around the Chiefs’ net led to a loose puck being banged into the goal. The Chiefs would tie the game in the third with McKenna Paddock scoring on a seeing eye point shot that found the top corner of the goal. The teams exchanged chances until a two on one break for the Titans ended with a goal to give them the 2-1 lead. The Chiefs came so close to tying the game with the goalie pulled, but there was no come back magic for this game.

Saddled with an 0-3 record, the Chiefs coaches knew the team had played very well against tough opponents and were happy with the players performance. But the game is about success and that means a win would be a must for the bus ride home. On Sunday morning, matched up against the Minnesota Revolution, the Chiefs left no doubt they wanted to have a happy bus for the trip. Playing a fast physical style, the Chiefs scored single goals in each period to go along with two empty net goals for a 5-0 victory. McKenna Paddock moved into the team lead in scoring with a first period goal assisted by Sydnee DeCorby. Hannah Fouillard scored at the end of the second as she worked hard in front to find a loose puck and slipped into the goal with Paddock providing the assist. Jessi Rampton broke out of a recent goal scoring funk with another rebound goal early in the third, as she found the loose puck off a Morgan Ramsay shot and backhanded the puck up into the goal. The Revolution pulled their goalie with three minutes to play and the Chiefs iced the game away with empty net markers from Jessi Rampton and Tatum Amy.

The Chiefs and their entourage loaded the bus and headed for home, with a solid victory and four good games under their belt. The team will return to league play next weekend on the road against Pembina Valley and Interlake.