St. Paul's newest hockey team, The Xtreme Oilfield Female Midget Canadiens, hit the ice in Vermilion on the Oct. 23/24 weekend for their first ever tournament. These hockey players come from all over the Lakeland (Saddle Lake, Kehewin, Good Fish, St.
St. Paul's newest hockey team, The Xtreme Oilfield Female Midget Canadiens, hit the ice in Vermilion on the Oct. 23/24 weekend for their first ever tournament.
These hockey players come from all over the Lakeland (Saddle Lake, Kehewin, Good Fish, St. Paul, Glendon, Elk Point and Vegreville) and range in age from 13 to 17.
Their first game was against Lloydminster, and our players started off slow and anxious letting in three goals; however that turned around quickly and the girls battled hard over the next two and a half periods shutting down Lloydminster goal scoring. Brooke Skrypichayko scored our only goal, assisted by Zoe Quinney. The game ended 3-1.
Our second game was against Vermilion and the girls battled hard capturing a 5-3 win with Cassy Hannin earning a hat trick and Shaelyn Cardinal and Jade Thornton each putting one passed the Vermilion goalie. Our goaltender, Andee Dion, made some terrific saves during that game.
This was the girls' first win as a team and it brought some excitement into the dressing room which carried them into their third game that night, with a do-over against Lloydminster. The girls were on fire for the first two periods with Brooke Skrypichayko scoring in the second along with Sydney Theroux.
Lloydminster battled hard in the third and peppered our goalie but Erin Duffee shut them down and Shaelyn Cardinal sealed the deal with an open net goal, ending the game 3-0.
This brought the girls to the semi finals the next morning against the Bonnyville-Cold Lake Jaguars. It was a high intensity game with our girls playing three aggressive periods. We out shot the Jags 35-17 beating them 2-1 with Cassidy Lysons and Gwyneth Cardinal scoring our two goals.
This win propelled us into the finals against a very aggressive Cochrane team. The game was rough and we were already down an injured player but the Xtreme Oilfield Female Midget Canadiens never gave up and battled hard. After our second player was carried off the ice, Cochrane's coach backed their players down and we finished the game without any more injuries. The final score was 5-0.
I was very proud of these ladies over the weekend. Not only was their sportsmanship top notch, they battled hard and never once gave up once, playing five games in less than 48 hours! I think it will be a fabulous year with our great coaches and dedicated young ladies.
The team's head coach, Dominique Bernier, was also really impressed with how the players performed.
“Our players really surprised us,&” said Bernier. “It was a team goal to place in a tournament this season but we managed to place in our very first tournament. It is a testament to how hard the girls worked and how well they work together. We have only been together as a team for three weeks but we are gelling in a way that makes you think we have been together for three years.&”
We will be hosting a home tournament on the Nov. 21 and 22 weekend.
