As the Steelers and Avalanche took to the ice, the two Whitehorse Women’s Hockey League teams had a couple things in common—both were missing players and both had suffered losses the previous week to the Fury.
“We were short-benched,” said Steelers’ Janice Sibbeston. “We had two subs for a while but then we lost one lady at the end of the game.”
“We were missing some of our key players—we were missing our captain (Anna Pugh),” said Avalanche’s Jen Olsen.
“It was a bit of a different competition as a team. So after the first period we started jelling together more and playing our positions.”
The “jelling” complete, the Avalanche pulled out of a 3-3 tie, scoring three unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 win Thursday at the Canada Games Centre.
Nearing the end of the second period, Olsen got the game winner on a pass in front of the crease from Tanya Ordish, lifting it into the open net with just 24 seconds left. Olsen then started the third with another goal resulting from a 2-on-0 rush and then assisted a goal by Karen Pearson to end the game.
“We played together as a team,” said Olsen. “I think we passed well, played our positions really well and just (played with) really good teamwork.”
After a pair of goals by Pamela Morrissey, and one in between by Nancy Campbell, the Avalanche watched their 3-1 lead slip to a tie as Sibbeston and teammate Janice Millington found the back of the net.
“I think all year we’ve been struggling but we’re getting it together now,” said Sibbeston. “We haven’t been getting a lot of wins, but our game is getting better. Tonight we were a bit off.
“They have really good defence; it’s so tough to get around them. (Shannon Macaulay) is there and she’s right on you—I couldn’t get past her. She’s too good.”
Taryn Parker scored the Steelers’ first goal and then assisted Millington’s.
“I think for us, since we’ve lost more than we’ve won, every time we win it’s extra nice,” said Olsen. “I think the longer the league goes on, the more competitive it will become.”
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com