They kicked us out and now we kicked some butt.
On Sunday, March 20 the Warman U18AA Wildcats defeated the Saskatoon Comet Legends 4-1 in the deciding game of the Northern finals of the Saskatchewan Female Hockey League (SFHL) playoffs.
The win was significant because it showed how far the female program had come.
Prior to 2018-19 hockey season girls in our region that wanted to play at an elite level played for Saskatoon.
That year the Saskatchewan Hockey Association had ruled that players outside city limits couldn’t play on teams in Regina and Saskatoon. The intention was to encourage local hockey associations to build their own female teams thereby increasing opportunities for girls to play.
It worked.
Warman Minor Hockey has seen to tremendous growth in numbers of girls playing on its various teams and the success of the U18AA team shows it is possible to be competitive.
Make no mistake the series win was not easy as Saskatoon is a very talented team.
The Comet Legends took game one 2-1.
They opened the scoring when Vanessa Mountford found the back of the net midway through the first period.
Warman captain Madison Evans tied the game five minutes into the second period with assists from Taylor Partridge and Cadence Bulitz Udell.
Legends Charlize Field scored the game winner late in the second period.
In game two played in Warman it was the Wildcats who came away with a 2-1 win.
Saskatoon again took the early lead on a late first period goal by Kiera Olsen.
Chloe Horner tied the game on a setup by Sydney Forest.
Heather Gust tallied the game winner with a powerplay goal with little over a minute to play in the second period.
In the third game of the best of three series played at MB Community Rink in Saskatoon the Wildcats left no doubt how much they wanted the series.
After a scoreless first period Ella Stow scored with assists from Ella Currie and Avery Switzer. Before the end of the second period Cadence Bulitz Udell added to the Warman lead with assists from Cassadie Crawford and Madison Evans.
They built on that lead as Bobbi Lightburn scored early in the third period with assist from Ella Stow.
Sienna Bohrson netted the Wildcats fourth goal on an assist from Chloe Horner with 12 minutes left in the game.
Saskatoon got their lone goal late in the third period when Morgan Snell scored.
The Wildcats held off any further attempts and were rewarded with their first banner as North Division Champions.
They now move on to play the Regina Rebels . Game one is scheduled for March 24 in Warman.