The Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats pulled off a pair of dominate wins at home this past weekend.

Hosting the Weyburn Gold Wings on Saturday night, Swift Current’s offence was just too much for the opposition to handle powering their way to a 5-0 victory.

Wildcats forwards Paris Appel and Kiana McNinch scored 83 seconds apart around the midway point of the first.

Swift Current followed that up with a duo more in the second off the stick of Sadie Keller and Tess Bakus.

Rounding out the games scoring was Jerzey Watteyne early in the third.

Wildcats netminder Karlee Lehner stopped all 23 shots she faced for her second shutout on the season.

It was a similar script for Swift Current Sunday afternoon as they waltzed by the visting Gold Wings 6-0.

“Obviously a lot of positives when you score five the first night and six tonight,” Swift Current Wildcats Head Coach Terry Pavely said. “That’s good offensive production and I thought we took advantage of our chances in the offensive zone.”

For the second time in as many games Kiana McNinch scored in the first period for Swift Current. Wildcats defenceman Caitlyn Perlinger then doubled her season goal total 2:47 apart on a pair of power plays stretching the lead to 3-0.

Wildcats leading scorer Jerzey Watteyne found the back of the net in the second and Sadie Keller netted a shorthanded goal for Swift Current just before the period ended.

With just over a minute left in the game Swift Current forward Addison Eurich rifled home a wrist shot finishing off the weekend scoring.

Swift Current’s Aurora Van Wormer turned aside 17 shots in goal to pickup her third shutout of the year.

“Both kids, obviously when you do pitch shutouts back-to-back, they made the saves they needed to make,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing we want from our goaltenders is make the saves they;re supposed to make and then anything that’s maybe out of the ordinary or those acrobatic saves those are kind of bonus ones. They did a good job of making the saves they needed to make.”

The 12-7 Wildcats will now be off from league action until January 7, when they visit the 5-9-1-1 Prince Albert Bears.

It was a near-perfect Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament for the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats.

They opened play on Thursday afternoon in Milestone with a convincing 4-0 win over the Pembina Valley Hawks.

Wildcats netminder Karlee Lehner made 15 saves for the shutout, while Caitlyn Perlinger, Gracie Georget, Ava Metzger, and Jerzey Watteyne all scored.

Swift Current notched their second win of the four-day tournament on Friday morning sneaking past the St. Mary’s Flames 3-2.

Sadie Keller, Tess Bakus, and Jerzey Watteyne all found the back of the net for the Wildcats.

Aurora Van Wormer made 26 saves in net for Swift Current in the win.

Later on Friday Swift Current remained undefeated earning a 1-1 tie against the Edmonton Pandas.

Laiken Swan had the lone goal for the Wildcats and Karlee Lehner stopped 26 of 27 shots in net.

The Wildcats were then off for about 24-hours before erasing a 2-0 deficit to upend the Edge School 5-2.

Sadie Keller led the offensive attack with a pair of markers and Laiken Swan, Caitlyn Perlinger, and Kiana McNinch each chipped in with a goal.

Wildcats netminder Aurora Van Wormer picked up the win turning aside 28 shots in the process.

Swift Current closed out play on Sunday downing the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs 3-1.

In the victory, Ava Metzger scored twice while Caitlyn Perlinger recorded the game-winner.

Karlee Lehner recorded her second win of the tournament making 25 saves.

The Wildcats will return to league action on Wednesday when they visit the Regina Rebels.

Published: Thursday, 25 November 2021 01:16
Written by David Zammit

A stout defensive effort by the visiting Notre Dame Hounds was too much to overcome for the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats last night.

The two top teams in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League battled it at Fairview West Arena with the Hounds scoring securing a 3-1 win.

Notre Dame’s Spring Mosset had the icebreaker only 1:43 into the game capitalizing on a Wildcats turnover.

Hounds leading scorer Keana McKibbin would stretch her team’s lead to 2-0 midway through the second cashing in on a scramble in front of the net.

Early in the third Kaitlyn Gilroy pounced on a rebound and made no mistake making it 3-0 Notre Dame.

Wildcats forward Laiken Swan would end the Hounds shutout bid with 8:02 remaining in regulation on a power play but that is as close as Swift Current would come.

Karlee Lehner stopped 25 shots for the Wildcats in goal and suffered her first loss of the season in seven games.

Swift Current is now 9-4 on the season tied with the Hounds at 25 points atop the league standings, although Notre Dame has four games in hand.

Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to Wilcox to face the Hounds in a rematch on December 2.

Written by David Zammit
Another successful weekend for the Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats is in the books.

The squad travelled to Saskatoon on Saturday and Sunday for a pair of contests against the Stars, a team they had yet to face in regular-season action.

Swift Current skated to a tight 2-1 victory on Saturday afternoon with a pair of powerplay goals from Ava Metzger and Samantha Thompson.

Wildcats goalie Karlee Lehner continued her perfect season turning aside 19 of the 20 shots she faced moving to 6-0 on the season.

Less than 24-hours later, the pair of teams were back on the ice at Merlis Belsher Place, with the Wildcats coming out on top again, this time 4-1.

Swift Current was able to race out to a 3-0 lead by the middle of the second period with Addison Eurich, Jerzey Watteyne, and Sadie Keller all finding the back of the net.

Aurora Van Wormer picked up the win in between the pipes for Swift Current making 24 saves.

The Stars would respond late in the second but Thompson would extend the Swift Current lead back to three goals in the third sealing the win.

With the pair of weekend wins, the Wildcats sit alone atop of the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League at 9-3 on the campaign and host the 6-0-1 Notre Dame Hounds Wednesday night at Fairview West Arena.

A Swift Current Innovation Credit Union U18 Female AAA Wildcats defenceman will be staying close to home for her post-secondary studies.

The AAA club announced on Monday afternoon that Shelby Rublee has committed to the University of Regina for the 2022-23 season.

While it wasn’t the location that the Kindersley product had envisioned, the recruitment from the Cougars women’s hockey team won her over.

“I actually said I wanted to move far away from home and kind of get out of Saskatchewan, I was kind of looking at Calgary,” the fourth-year Wildcat said. “I was talking to other university’s and then I started talking to Sarah, I felt like Regina felt like the right place for me.”

Cougars Head Coach Sarah Hodges played a key role in convincing Rublee to take her talents to the Queen City.

“I started talking to Sarah probably last March,” she said. “We kind of stayed connected through the summer and stayed connected through this year and she was calling me probably every week or every other week. We stayed connected and that helped a lot for making a decision.”

Rublee has skated in 73 regular-season games for Swift Current since 2018 and is enjoying her best offensive campaign already just 10 games in scoring once and adding a trio of assists.

“It’s something to look forward to and motivate me for the rest of this year and the summer going into next year as well,” she said.

The left-shot defenceman will take a kinesiology degree and then is looking at potentially taking a two-year physical therapy program.