WALKERTON CAPITALS MIDGET GIRLS ELIMINATED FROM LLFHL PLAYOFFS BUT STILL ALIVE IN PROVINCIAL PLAYDOWNS
by Paul Nixon
The Walkerton Capitals Midget Girls started their Provincial Play downs at home on Tuesday, February 26th at 9:30 p.m., against the South Huron Sabres. The winner of this will earn a berth in the Provincial Championship in Ottawa April 5th-7th. The Capitals played a fast paced game and had a 2-0 lead late into the third but the Sabres managed to tie it 2-2.
Haley Fischer broke the ice scoring in the first on a
backhand after a rebound from Ashton Nixon and Trudy Young. The Capitals extended their lead to 2-0 in
the second period on the power play when Joelle Busby jammed home a rebound on
her knees from Leah Kittel and Janelle Weber.
The Sabres cut the deficit in half on a power play of their
own with 1.1 seconds left in the second period when the penalty kill failed to
clear the puck out and the Sabres seized the opportunity to give them life
going into the third period. The Sabres
carried that energy into the third and had several scoring chances but Alyssa
Inglis of the Capitals kept them in the lead with some key saves. The Sabres pulled their goalie late in the
third and the Capitals had possession of the puck in the Sabres end but
couldn’t maintain it. That led to a
Sabres rush into the Capitals end and they buried the tying goal with 27
seconds left. The Capitals out played
the Sabres for the majority of the game but the Sabres capitalized on the
Capitals mistakes and left town with a tie.
The Capitals battled the Lakeshore Lightning on Saturday,
March 1st at noon in Belle River with the winner advancing to the LLFHL
Finals. The Capitals came out sluggish
and looked that way throughout and lost 3-1.
The loss meant a 5 minute overtime was required since each team tied and
had a win. The overtime was scoreless
and it came down to a shootout. The
Lightning struck for one goal and the Capitals came up with a goose egg on 3
shooters. The loss eliminated the
Capitals from LLFHL Playoffs.
The first period was scoreless with the Lightning
controlling the game. The Lightning
bolted to a 1-0 lead early in the second period when they pounced on turn over
by the Capitals in their own end. The
Capitals got into penalty trouble later in the second and the Lightning
connected on the power play to increase their lead to 2-0. The Lightning added another goal in the
second and carried a commanding 3-0 lead into the third period.
The Capitals scored a meaningless goal late in the third on
the power play to spoil the shutout. The
only player to show up for the Capitals was their goalie, Alyssa Inglis, who
kept it close and gave them a chance. As
stated overtime solved nothing and the Lightning claimed the victory in the
shootout and advanced to the Finals. The
Capitals were never in the game and appeared tired and unable to sustain any
pressure. They only managed 6 shots for
the game which made it easy for the Lightning goalie.
The Capitals were on the road again on Sunday, March 2nd at
5:40 p.m., in Stephen Township, for game 2 of their Provincial Play downs
against the South Huron Sabres. The
Capitals rebounded from their disappointing loss to the Lightning in convincing
fashion with a 4-1 win.
The Capitals came out with more jump and built a 2-0 lead
after one period with Trudy Young and Julie Thomson bulging the twine for the
Capitals. Leah Kittel pumped a goal home
for the Capitals in the second period and Thomson rounded out the scoring with
her second goal of the game in the third period. The Sabres spoiled the shutout for Inglis
with 3 minutes left in the third period.
The Capitals can eliminate the Sabres at home on Tuesday,
March 5th at 9:15 p.m., and advance to the Provincial Championship in Ottawa.