MFMHL Championship series tied at one

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Published on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

File photo property of  Zack Peters - ZJP Photography. Yellowhead goaltender Emma Greenwood and the rest of the AAA midget team are facing a very tough challenge from the Central Plains Capitals in the MFMHL final.

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The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

The Yellowhead AAA Midget Female Chiefs returned to the ice on Friday, Mar. 18, after a bizarre turn of events following game one of the championship series last Wednesday. 

The Manitoba Female Midget Hockey League executive voided the game results  following the controversy over the penalty shot awarded to the Chiefs in overtime.  The league further dictated the series would continue on Friday night in Portage la Prairie, with the Chiefs getting the next two games on home ice.  So, with an opportunity to have a better game then on Wednesday, the Chiefs arrived in Portage ready to go.

The game would be a closely contested affair, as both teams worked to control the play on the full sized ice surface at the PCU Centre.  With veteran netminder Emma Greenwood providing another steady game, the Chiefs were able to fire 30 shots at McKenna Wild in the Capitals goal and had several top quality scoring chances.  The game would remain scoreless through two periods and most of the third, until a turnover would send a Capitals’ forward in alone on Greenwood.  Having made two previous saves on breakaways, the Chiefs netminder was beaten by a high shot to the glove side.  Yellowhead pressed for the rest of the game but were unable to find the tying goal and an empty net goal made the final 2-0 for Central Plains.

On Sunday, Mar. 20, the Chiefs played the second game of the series before a packed house at the Communiplex in Shoal Lake.  A determined group of players for Yellowhead would control the pace of the first period, outshooting the visitors 12-4 and scoring once.  McKenna Paddock would get a shot away after receiving the puck from Emma Coulter and Jessi Rampton.  The puck would beat McKenna Wild in the Capitals goal, giving the Chiefs that important first goal.  

In the second period, the Capitals pressured the Chiefs more, but it would be late power-play that saw the game tied, as a low slap shot from the point beat Greenwood through traffic.  The next shift following a goal is very important, and unfortunately, the Chiefs turned the puck over in their zone and just 20 seconds after the tying goal, the Capitals scored on a breakaway.

Suddenly down 2-1, Yellowhead had to find its focus for the third period.  With several power-play chances, including an extended 5-on-3, the Chiefs had several opportunities to tie the game but still found themselves trailing as time ticked down.  With the goalie pulled, Yellowhead was pressuring in the Capitals’ zone when another penalty was called on the visitors, on a cross check from behind.  Playing 6-on-4, the Chiefs won a draw in the Capitals zone and the puck was fired on net, where Morgan Ramsay jumped on the loose puck and flipped it home to tie the game with just 10 seconds remaining.

The teams would play the 10 minute overtime at a frantic pace, including a two minute power-play for Central Plains, but the game would remain tied.  Early in the second overtime, Central Plains was whistled for a high sticking penalty and just seconds later, McKenna Paddock worked the puck loose from a scramble on the boards and moved around one defender to fire a low shot that went off the post and behind Wild to give the Yellowhead Chiefs a heart stopping and very important victory in game two. That win tied the MFMHL championship series at one game apiece.