The Red Rockets were slow to ignite, but once the team’s afterburners were on full, the Rockets soared over the Steelers and into the finals of the Whitehorse women’s hockey league.
“We had a little chat between periods and said, ‘Do you want to play another game next week or do you want to die now?’” said Rockets captain Cheryl Rivest.
“Annie (Morrison) said, ‘I’m not ready to die, I want to play another game.’ And she actually scored the winning goal.”
In the league’s short, three-game playoffs, the Rockets defeated the Steelers 4-3 Thursday and will be playing in the finals this Thursday evening at the Canada Games Centre. They will be playing the winner of Wednesday’s game between the Avalanche and the Fury.
“The one extra game is what we’re playing for,” said Rivest. “One more night of ice time—that’s all.”
Things really started to click for the Rockets in the third, scoring three goals on their first three shots of the period to go up 4-2. Rivest started the third-period spree, followed by Marjorie Logue and Annie Morrison.
“We were going at it in the first period but we got tired, I guess,” said Steelers centre Stephanie Cardinal.
“I think we got overconfident,” added teammate Brittnie Lafferty. “We stopped passing.”
The Rockets actually finished the first period down 2-0 after a mid-period goal by Lafferty and, prior to that, a goal by Cardinal, just 20 seconds into the engagement.
“I just aimed, shot, and it went right between the goalie’s legs,” said Cardinal.
Despite being outshot 9-5 in the second, Rockets’ Mary Binsted moved her team within one, scoring all alone in front.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com