Female Chiefs eliminate Westman, advance to league final

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Published on Thursday, March 17, 2016

Photo property of Zach Peters, ZJP Photography. Yellowhead goaltender Emma Greenwood makes a save during game three of the MFMHL semi-final series on Sunday, Mar. 6 against the Westman Wildcats.

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The Neepawa Banner

The Yellowhead Chiefs arrived in Hartney on Wednesday, Mar. 9 knowing a win would send them to the Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League final for the second year in a row. Standing in their way however, was a Westman Wildcats team that played very well on home ice.  

The Chiefs were challenged to start the game on a high note and the girls responded with a furious pace through the early minutes of the game. The Wildcats matched the Chiefs and the first five minutes of the game flew by without a stoppage in play.  The large crowd on hand was treated by the teams displaying their speed and great puck movement.  Just past the midpoint of the period, the Chiefs found themselves killing a 5 on 3 power-play for over a minute and a half. Both teams knew this was a pivotal moment.  The effort of the Chiefs’ penalty killers was incredible, as they held the Wildcats to the outside and when a shot got through, Emma Greenwood turned it aside.   After killing the penalties, the Chiefs were soon on a power-play of their own and would open the scoring to take that important lead.  The Chiefs worked the puck around in the Wildcats’ zone until Tess Rampton lifted a shot on goal that was stopped.  Emma Coulter would not be denied and found the loose puck and banged it into the goal.

The Chiefs opened the second period with the same vigour and would add to the lead just three minutes in. Hannah Fouillard of St. Lazare won the puck in the Chiefs’ zone and hit Jalyn Elmes with a break out pass.  The Chiefs’ captain powered down the left wing and into the Wildcats’ zone before firing a perfect shot that beat the goaltender through the five hole.  Yellowhead continued to apply pressure and added a third goal when Hamiota’s Emma Coulter corralled a loose puck near the Westman blue line and fired a quick slap shot on goal that found its way into the net.  Morgan Ramsay assisted on the goal that prompted the home team to make a goaltending change.  The Wildcats showed again that they would not go easily and for the rest of the second period, threw everything at the Chiefs to close the gap.  They would score on a pretty passing play with a back hand shot that beat Greenwood at the midway point of the period, to make the score 3-1 going into the third period.

Both teams would have a power-play opportunity in the third but neither would be able to score. The Chiefs played a disciplined game, keeping the puck away from the front of the net.  A late penalty to the Chiefs put the Wildcats on the power-play with just over two minutes to play in the game and with the goalie out of the net, Westman pushed to narrow the Chiefs’ lead.  The penalty killers again were the difference as the Chiefs held the Wildcats to the outside.  Hannah Fouillard would block a shot on the penalty kill and the puck was lifted out of the zone by Jalyn Elmes and with perfect draw weight, the puck slid over the line and into the goal to make the lead 4-1.  The final minute ticked away and the Chiefs celebrated winning and advancing to the league final.  

The Yellowhead Chiefs will next face the Central Plains Capitals as the Caps eliminated the Pembina Valley Hawks in the other semi-final matchup. Game one of the MFMHL championship showdown was played on Wednesday, Mar. 16, after the Neepawa Banner publication deadline. Games two and three meanwhile, are set for Friday, Mar. 18 and Sunday, Mar. 20.