After playing the equivalent of almost four hockey games in the space of 27 hours with the teams deadlocked in a 0-0 stalemate in Sunday's third and deciding game, something had to give.
That something turned out to be the golden goal that made the Northland Dodge Northland Cougars female midget triple-A hockey provincial champions Sunday afternoon at Kin 2.
Jocelyn Forrest 's backhand shot into an open net, 6:58 into the third period, was the only goal in 1-0 Cougars' win over the three-time defending champion Fraser Valley Phantom. Forrest took a pass in front from linemate Madison Fjellstrom, after Hunter Mosher pushed the puck deep into the Phantom zone.
"The shift before I said to Hunter, 'how close are we going to get until we score,' and the next shift we went out and scored," said Forrest, the Cougars' 17-year-old centre. "It wasn't lucky or anything, it was all hard work. We knew we didn't want to go to another overtime, we'd already played about 12 periods so I just went hard to the net and shoved it in.
The Cougars are a combination of players from the Prince George team which won the bantam triple-A provincial championship in 2012 and the B.C. bantam champs from 2013.
"This has been our goal all year," said Forrest. "Some of us have won a championship and some haven't. Now everyone on the team is a champion and it's such an unbelievable feeling after losing the first game in the fifth period, I couldn't ask for a better team."
Kelsey Roberts made 20 saves for the shutout as the Cougars outshot the Phantom 24-20. Roberts allowed just three goals in the three-game series.
After an evenly-played first period, the Cougars took control in the second period. Although they were unable to beat Phantom goalie Danielle Wierenga, they dominated the middle frame, outshooting and outworking their opponents. The Cats survived a close call late in the second when Courtney Vorster took the puck in deep and Karolina Lavrikova followed up with a hot shot from the slot that Roberts blocked with her trapper.
Just before Forrest scored, Cougar forward Myah Bowal rang a shot off the crossbar.
As the clock ticked down, panic started to creep into the Phantom attack, which resulted in some ill-advised passes that led to turnovers and quick rushes into the opposite end. Led by Chantelle Beadman-Rolph and Victoria Byer, the Cougars' defence was responsible for much of the Phantom frustration. The Cats' rearguards controlled the walls, plugged the middle of the ice and won most of the loose-puck battles.
The Cougars lost Game 1 Saturday morning 2-1 in double overtime, then rebounded with a 1-0 win Saturday night.
"This has been an amazing year and what a way to finish it off with a 1-0 victory that was a really tight game all the way through," said Cougars head coach Mario Desjardins. "It was a huge battle here."
The win marks the first time the Cougars have won the provincial title since the league was formed in 2007-08. They finished first in the regular season with a 25-3-2 record, which earned them a first-round bye in the playoffs, then defeated the Okanagan Lakers two games to none in the semifinals.
None of the Cougars were invited to the Team B.C, under-18 team tryout camp to form the team which represented B.C. in the Canada Winter Games in Prince George and the Cougars used that slight to fuel their ambition to show the powers-that-be at Hockey BC they are the top team in the province.
"We proved we didn't need any help from Team B.C., we battled through everything they put us through and in the end we came out as champions so the effect they had on us doesn't really matter," said Cougars captain Ava Keis. "Now we're pushing to get to the Esso Cup, we couldn't ask for a better season."
The Phantom finished third in the league at 13-13-4 but turned it on in the second half, defeating the Kootenay Wildcats and West Coast Avalanche in the playoffs.
"Both teams played well and I think either team deserved to win," said Phantom head coach Al Wozney. "Kudos to the Cougars, they are a tremendous team and they're well-coached. I'm very proud of the girls and our coaching staff. It was a tremendous series."
Phantom captain Mikayla Ogrodniczuk was one of only two players from the B.C. triple-A league picked for the Canada Games team and was hoping her second major tournament in Prince George in less than a month would end on a high note after Team B.C. finished a disappointing sixth.
"Our team gave it everything this weekend and I couldn't be prouder and we do have a medal -- no one thought we'd get here and it's good to show everyone that even though it was rebuilding year for us we came together as a group and really fought hard." said Ogrogniczuk.
The Cougars are intent on bigger and better things down the road. They want to be among the six teams battling for the Esso Cup national championship, April 19-26 in Red Deer. They will play the Alberta-champion Edmonton Thunder for the regional championship in Edmonton, April 3-5.
Cougars assistant coach Stewart Malgunas attended the funeral of former Cougars/Spruce Kings head coach Dale Marquette between Games 1 and 2 Saturday afternoon and taped Marquette's memorial card to the wall of the Cougars' dressing room.
"Dale was a true northern guy and maybe that brought us some luck," said Malgunas.
"I'm just so proud of these girls, they've been through a ton and they're just warriors. That was three unbelievable games and credit to the Phantom, they gave us everything we could handle. This group loves each other and we want to play as long as we possible can."
