Wildcats struck by lightning!

By Ryan Turczyniak

October 10, 2014

The Southwest Wildcats were defeated by the Durham West Lightning 5-3 at Forest Glade Arena on Oct. 5.

The Lightning are second place in the Provincial Women’s Hockey League.
The Lightning were a strong match for the Wildcats as they were outplaying and out-shooting them most of the game.
Lightning forward Taylor McManus opened the scoring for Durham, giving them a 1-0 lead late in the first period.
Durham’s head coach Jeremy Murphy knew what his team was up against before going into the game.

“We expected a tough game from Windsor, they’re playing desperate right now they’re a good team,” said Murphy. “One of our focuses all year is to manage our highs and lows during games, during the season. We tried to improve on things every game, we take some positives out of the game today.”

The Wildcats retaliated midway in the second period on a breakaway from Muna Fadel, tying the game 1-1. Wildcats later jumped ahead in the game after a shot from the low slot by forward Savannah Bouzide, beating Durham goaltender Rebecca Clark. Two quick goals gave Durham back the lead when assistant captain Alyssa Gee buried a loose puck and a one timer shot from defenceman Saroya Tinker made it 3-2 at the end of the second frame.

The third period got underway with Lightning forward Alexandra Maw getting a minor head contact penalty, giving the Wildcats a power play that Sara Mayrand would score on to tie the game at three apiece. The Lightning responded with two more goals in the period from Charlea Pedersen and Taylor Hicks, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.

“I think sometimes we have the intensity to get down during the game,” said Wildcats goaltender Hanna Slater. “I think that’s something we have to work on during the next game because sometimes they can get down and not work as hard.”