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Silver medal not diminishing magical provincial run for Atom Wildcats

Mar 17, 2019 | 7:38 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat Atom Wildcats fought and clawed for a shot at a provincial medal, and while it’s not the colour they may have wanted, they pint-sized players are holding their heads high.

On Sunday afternoon, the Wildcats were shut out 4-0 by the Airdrie Atom Lightning in the gold medal final of the Alberta Atom Female Provincial Championships at the Kinplex.

Medicine Hat entered the game with a perfect 4-0 record in tournament action, but were unable to get anything past Lightning MVP Keygan Brost, who made 23 saves to pick up the shutout.

Wildcats defenceman Cambelle Gross said it would have been great to have won provincials on home ice, but is proud of her team’s effort all week.

“It stings sometimes, but silver is really good to know that you made it to the finals and you’re second best in Alberta,” said Gross.

After a scoreless first period, Airdrie opened the scoring 6:32 into the middle frame with an unassisted marker from Chelsea Coates.

Talia Palazeti made it a 2-0 game for the Lightning seven minutes later, before Coates added her second of the afternoon shorthanded before the end of the period.

Coates completed the hat-trick for Airdrie six minutes into the third period, while Brost stood on her head to preserve the shutout win and the provincial banner for the Lightning.

It’s the first time all season that the Wildcats failed to score a goal, while Medicine Hat netminder Rehn Hall stopped 14 of 18 shots against.

Speaking to his players following the game, Wildcats head coach Byron Hall said they’re focusing on the positives of a remarkable season for the nine and ten year olds.

“In the end we did win a silver medal and that’s how we’re communicating to the girls right now,” said Hall. “They’re heartbroken, but that’s to be expected.”

While the Wildcats breezed through the round-robin with a perfect 3-0 record, their shot at a provincial medal almost vanished in the semi-finals on Sunday.

Running into another hot goaltender courtesy of Heidi Moos’ 43-save showing, Medicine Hat needed double overtime to knock off the West Central Wildcats thanks to the game-winner off the tape of Gross.

Sending Medicine Hat through to the gold medal game and guaranteed a medal, Gross said it’s a bright spot to look back on.

“We worked really hard to get here and I’m glad that we walked out with a medal,” she said.

It’s the second silver medal of the season for the Wildcats, who finished runner-up to the Lightning again in the Rocky Mountain Female Hockey League finals last weekend.

Medicine Hat did do something this season that no other team was able to do however, which was beat Airdrie in Game 2 of the RMFHL finals.

Hall said there’s a lot of positives to take away from this year’s Atom Wildcats squad, with about half of the roster eligible to return next year.

And when the team returns to the ice in the fall, Hall is hoping the Wildcats will reflect on lessons learned from their provincial run.

“A lot can be learned from this experience,” he said. “That stinging feeling, but also earlier that amazing feeling of success when you win in overtime too. So, tournaments like these are up and down feelings, right now it’s down. But, once the girls look back on this, they’ll appreciate it.”