By Scott Roblin

Wildcats settle for silver in OT loss to Olds at peewee provincials

Mar 19, 2018 | 5:25 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Utter heartbreak for the Medicine Hat Wildcats peewee female team on Sunday in the gold medal final at provincials.

The Wildcats were bested 2-1 in overtime by the Olds Grizzlys at the Kinplex, having to settle for a silver medal in their home barn.

Posting a perfect 4-0 record through the round-robin and semi-finals, the Wildcats were matched up against a 3-0-1 Olds team they had yet to play in the tournament.

Olds opened the scoring 5:05 into the afternoon with a Kourtney Asaris marker beating Wildcats goalie Maddy Ferguson.

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Medicine Hat went to the power play midway through the period however, knotting up the score at 1-1 following a goal from Kennedy Sisson on the man advantage.

Ferguson played lights out the rest of the way to keep it a 1-1 score, despite being outshot by a wide margin by Olds.

Sunday’s final needed some extra time, with the Wildcats down a skater thanks to a late slashing penalty.

Olds’ Sydney Grover took advantage, going end-to-end like a young Bobby Orr to bury the puck and give the Grizzlys the provincial title.

She said she had to fight off some nerves as she worked her way into the offensive zone.

“That was nerve-wracking,” said Grover. “I just picked up the puck and I said, ‘Well, just shoot.’ I did and I scored.”

Medicine Hat was outshot 40-18 by the Grizzlys, with Olds controlling much of the play throughout the game on Sunday.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow for the Wildcats group, but head coach Kris Schultz praised how far the program has come since its inception two years ago.

Captain Emersyn Baugh agreed, adding her young team handled such a disappointing result with class.

“I think our team is amazing and they held up pretty well,” said Baugh. “An unlucky bounce, I didn’t really see. But, I’m really proud of them for being confident in that moment.”

She said provincials weren’t even on the radar at the beginning of the season and the team should be proud of their silver medal.

“I never thought I would make it here to provincials, just to lose by one in overtime to the other team in the finals,” she said. “I’m just so happy that I made it here.”

As for the Medicine Hat Peewee AA Hounds, they steamrolled the Central Alberta Selects 11-2 on Sunday to win the SCAHL league championship in three games.

Josh Van Mulligan and Dawson Stewart each had five-point games, while Shane Smith contributed a hat-trick in the win.

The Hounds will now gear up for the Alberta Peewee AA Championships, which will be held in Calgary.