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Just a handful of games remain for teams in the B.C. Female Midget AAA hockey league with critical points on the line.

The Vancouver Fusion, Kootenay Wildcats and Prince George Cougars are only separated by two points in the final stretch of the season, as they all look to finish in third place. A key position as it determines who will play the first place Fraser Valley Phantom or play the second place Kelowna Rockets in playoffs.

“Things are building up to be a very big weekend in Nelson,” said team manager Glenn Budden of the final two games for the Fusion to be played the first weekend in March.

Budden said Fusion has battled through setbacks, including the loss of their coach and general manager due to unforeseen circumstances.

“The girls took it really hard but have come together stronger. They came to the realization they play for each other and now are more of a unit because of it,” said Budden

Myah Ollek (Burnaby) leads the team in points with 12 through 18 games, followed by Kaely McMurtry (Port Coquitlam) with 11 points and Micaela Smith (Chilliwack). The trio have proved to be their most lethal line when it comes to scoring. This combined with the strong play of goalie duo Sienna Cooke and Cassidy Hendricks has kept the team on track.

“We don’t have a single superstar. We win as a team and lose as a team. Even though we don’t record shots on our goalies, they have played super strong and kept us in many, many games,” said Budden

The Phantom, led by Mackenzie Wong’s 32 points, hold first place over the Thompson Okanagan Rockets who are led by Jesse Keca’s 38 points in 20 games.

The game started out flat against the Regina Rebels in the Third Place Pool final game.  The Fusion were outshot 56 to 6 and could not get their legs going against the Rebels who slept in their own beds the night before.  The Rebels are a very good team with size and power down the middle and and great point shots on the backend.  Cassidy Hendricks started the game for the Fusion and was given a break halfway through the game after 6 goals had been scored by Regina.  Sienna Cooke played well for the last half of the game and only allowed two goals on 25 shots.  The Fusion were once again led by Brittany Wakefield who scored both goals for the Vancouver team.  Her first goal at the 18:05 mark of the second period was assisted by Emina Ida and Ali Beres.  With just 53 seconds remaining in the game Wakefield pottesd her second and Beres and Nicole Vukasovic earned the assists.

The Fuion finshed a very respectful 10th overall in the sixteen team tournament.  The Fraser Valley Phantom finished 14th and the Thompson Okanagan Rockets finished 15th.  The team from Okanagan Hockey Academy will face the host Notre Dame Hounds in the final game this afternoon.  The Fsuion are off to tour the famous RCMP DEpot and catch their flight back home to Vancouver.

The Vancouver Fusion have advanced to the championship game of the Third Place Pool by defeating the St Mary’s Academy Flames.  The win came in typical Fusion fashion of all in team play to defend and capitalizing on their opportunities.  The Fusion scored first five minutes into the first period when Ali BERES (North Shore FIHA) snagged her own rebound and wristed a shot to the top corner.  BERES had led the rush into the Flame’s zone after taking a pass from Rachel BUDDEN (Richmond Girls IHA).  The Flames continued to pressure the Fusion and Sienna COOKE (Cloverdale MHA) responded with several sparkling saves.  Finally while on a powerplay the Flames were able to beat COOKE after she had made a great pad save and the Flames out numbered the Fusion in the battle for the rebound.

In the second period the Fusion regained the lead when Emina IDA (Whistler MHA) fed a pass to Meghan FISHER (NSFIHA) and her shot from the left point bounced through a tangle of legs and past the Flame’s goaltender.  Halfway through the third period the Flames were once again on the powerplay and evened the score after COOKE had made another great save on a quick shot and the rebound bounced to the slot where a Flame attacker fired it into the empty side of the net.  Everyone began to consult their programs to check on the overtime rules when the Fusion were assessed a penalty in the last minute.  The penalty killers were hustling to keep the score knotted and force an overtime when Brittany WAKEFIELD ( NSFIHA) poked the puck off a Flame puck handler at centre ice.  WAKEFIELD controlled the bouncing puck and skated in on a breakaway.  A deft move to her backhand and a flip over the goalie’s pad gave the Fusion a shorthanded goal and a lead they would protect for the next 51 seconds.  The Fusion players celebrated their first win in the highly competitive tournament and then prepared to move on to face the Regina Rebels tomorrow at 10:30 AM (MST).  This was the Fusion’s final game in the Milestone arena and they left the building with great memories and undefeated.

Milestone, Saskatchewan

FUSION 1 WINNIPEG AVROS 1

On the second day of competition the Fusion tied their second game of the tournament in a 1-1 draw with the Winnipeg Avros from the Manitoba Female Major Midget League.  The Fusion have finished third in their pool with 2 points behind Notre Dame (6 points) and the Calgary Flyers (3 points) and will now play another Winnipeg based team, the St Mary’s Academy Flames, who finished third in pool A.  That game will be played at 9:00 AM (MST) on December 10 in Milestone with the winner moving on to play the winner of the third place teams from pool C and pool D.  The Fusion have the proud distinction of being the tournament’s highest placing team from the BC FMAAA League.  The Thompson Okanagan Rockets finished fourth in pool A with one tie (versus St Mary’s Academy) and two losses. The Fraser Valley Phantom finished fourth in pool C with 3 losses by a combined score of 20-6.

The game versus the Avros took place at the Fusion’s new favorite arena which is a classic old style rink hidden inside a building that is cleverly disguised on the outside as a delapitated airport hanger.  But the outward appearance is misleading as the building inside has great character, a huge warm lobby and old style wooden stands that allow the spectators to hear all the coach’s conversations with their players.  The game had a bizarre beginning with the referee threatening to assess a delay of game penalty to the Fusion who began their warm up at the scheduled time of 3:30 PM but 10 minutes after the Avros had taken to the ice.  The official’s dislike for the Fusion’s insistence that they warm up their goaltender was apparent as she put the team shorthanded 6 straight times in the first 10 minutes.  The Fusion held off the Avros powerplay by some courageous play as several players blocked shots and only permitted the Winnipeg team to have 16 shots in the first period while taking 5 shots of their own.  After playing shorthanded almost continously for the first 8 minutes the Fusion once again scored against the flow of the play as Myah OLLEK (Burnaby MHA) wristed a high shot over the goalie’s glove after her linemates Micaela SMITH (Chilliwack MHA) and Kaely McMURTRY (Tri Cities FIHA) had moved the puck around the Avro’s defensemen.

In the second period the teams played evenly and the Avros tied the game early in the period.  After the game was all square the two teams traded chances and the shots in the final two periods were 15-16 in favour of the Avros.  Cassidy HENDRICKS (NSWC) had another standout game as she withstood the several one man and two man advantages awarded the Avros in the first period.  All three Fusion centres, Brittany WAKEFIELD (North Shore FIHA), Kimberly THEODORIC (Cloverdale MHA) and OLLEK, dominated the face offs winning a total of 67% of the draws including, incredibly, the first 7 faceoffs of the game. WAKEFIELD led the team winning 63% of her draws and blocking 7 shots in the game.  In the last minute of the game the Avros pulled their goaltender to try and earn a win they needed to finish ahead of the Fusion and were once again provided assistance from the referee who put the Fusion two men short for the fourth time in the game.  Facing a six on three disadvantage for over 40 seconds, the hustling Fusion penalty killers kept the Avros from having any dangerous opportunities.  THEODORIC won four straight faceoffs in her own end in the final 30 seconds and HENDRICKS swallowed up any pucks that got past her teamates.  It has been said that hockey doesn’t build character but instead reveals it and this intense game exposed the Vancouver Fusion as a gritty group capable of staying focused on the task of winning as a complete team no matter what steep challanges are handed them by the opposition or the officials.

The Fusion celebrated their success with a home style spagetti dinner at the Wilcox Inn; the only business in the village besides Notre Dame College.  After dinner they attended a very interesting presentation from Harry Rosenholtz, the former Yale and Qinnipiac Universities coach who now assists female players in attaining athletic scholorships, financial assistance and academic merit mony from Canadian and American post secondary institutions.  This was a timely presentation because several college coaches and scouts in attendance at Milestone Arena had their interest piqued by the Fusion player’s character and skill on exhibit in the game against the Avros.

The Fusion played their second game in the same day in a smaller rink in Milestone and found it to a more friendly home than the extra wide Notre Dame arena.  Perhaps it was the afternoon nap or maybe it was the delicious pasta dinner prepared by Makiko, Gevin and Cindy, but the girls found their skating legs and played much better against the Calgary Flyers.  Once again the shots were greatly in favour of the opposition but Cassidy Hendricks stopped 18  of 20 in the first period and the Fusion were only down 2-0 going into the second period.  The Fusion had more pressure on the Flyers in the middle period and fired 9 shots at the goal.  With just over 3 minutes remaining the line of Myah Ollek between Micaela Smith and Kaely McMurtry jammed the Flyer net and after a McMurtry shot Olleck pushed the puck through the goalie’s skates and just over the goal line.  The Flyers were then given their fifth powerplay of the game and re-established their 2 goal with a 90 seconds remaining in the period.  Despite allowing the late goal the Fusion were upbeat after playing their best period of hockey in the day.  Their enthusiasm resulted in a Kim Theodoric goal in the first 30 seconds of the third period.  Kim recieved a pass from Jessica Su at the side of the slot and fired a high wrist shot over the glove of the Flyer goalie.  Emily Jude earned the second assist on the goal.  The Flyers were unsettled by the fact that they had outshot the Fusion 37 to 13 at that point but only had a one goal lead.  The Fusion continued to push and the Flyers were forced into taking four penalties in the period. Although they had good pressure on the powerplays the Fusion couldn’t beat the Flyer goalie.  With just under a minute to go coach Pat Thibeault pulled Hendricks and added Ali Beres to the line of Theodoric, Su and Jude.  The move paid off when Beres was set up by Theodoric and Smith and beat the goalie with a wrist shot with just 12 seconds remaining in the game.  The Fusion celebrated a well earned tie and became the first BC team to earn points in the tournament.  Tomorrow at 3:30 PM (MST) they play the winless Winnipeg Avros who fell 8-4 to the powerful Notre Dame Hounds.  A win versus Winnipeg will give them a chance to finish second in their pool as the Flyers face the Hounds who appear to a tough team for anyone to beat.

Shots Fusion – 17 Flyers – 54

Penalties: Fusion – 16 minutes Flyers – 12 minutes

WILCOX SASKATCHEWAN

The Fusion opened their schedule at the Notre Dame Tournament with an 8-0 loss to the host team.  After a day of travel and adapting to sub zero tempatures with a vicious wind the Fusion started slowly against the tournament favorite.  Notre Dame took advantage of playing in their home rink and outshot the Fsuion 17 to 2 in the first period.  They scored in the first minute on a breakaway caused by a turnover and continued to get clear one on one chances versus Fusion goalie Sienna COOKE (Cloverdale MHA).  The Hounds continued to take the game to the Fusion in the second period with another 17-2 shot advantage.  At the mid way mark of the second period Cassidy HENDRICKS (NSWC) took over in goal for the Fusion and faced 29 shots in the next period and half but only allowed two goals.  The Fusion next face the Calgary Flyers who defeated the Winnipeg Avros 5-2.  Game time is 8:30 PM (MST) tonight.

The first game saw a goaltending battle between Sienna Cooke (Fusion) and Tara Bouvette (Rockets) with both goaltenders making impressive saves.  The game was played very intensely with players on both sides competing physically while showing the skills of that this level of hockey requires.

The game ended with a well earned 0-0 tie.

The following day, the Rockets came out of the gate with a very strong effort.  Although allowing a first period goal by Keca (Rockets), the Fusion players showed their resiliency by battling back in the second period to score a goal of their own to tie it 1-1.  The third period would prove to be more of the same back and forth play, the game finishing in a tie (1-1).

In all 3 games played so far this year, the Fusion and Rockets have only found ties with scores being (2-2), (0-0) and (1-1).