A historic season for the Battlefords WPD Ambulance has ended with their first Fedoruk Cup victory in franchise history. They clinched the championship with a 3-0 win over the Swift Current Innovation Federal Credit Union Wildcats, winning the series 2-0.
“Obviously it’s still pretty fresh at the moment. It’s a long time coming, but all of a sudden yesterday crept up on us and to see the girls get the job done when they needed is a pretty special moment for them and the organization,” said Sharks head coach Nolan Horbach.
After heading into the third period tied 0-0, Sarah McNabb scored the eventual game winning goal.
“After that, it’s like we just found another level. It’s like we’ve gained this confidence and played our game,” said Horbach. “I felt we were more playing to our standard and took advantage of another turnover that created late in the third, and Brooke Weber put in goal number two for us.”
After the insurance marker, Weber added an empty net goal for the Sharks to clinch their first championship in franchise history.
“We turned over the puck really well, using our forecheck and our speed. So that was really great, and it was nice that I could capitalize on the opportunities,” Weber said.
Just getting that first goal out of the way helped calm down the nerves for the Sharks heading into the home stretch of the clinching game.
“It was like a little bit of nervous excitement, I think even leading up after how game one went. All three prior games before that, we’ve scored first. I think that felt like it just gave us a little extra boost and took maybe a little bit of the edge off,” Horbach said.
For Weber, who scored the insurance goal plus an empty netter, reality didn’t set in until the very last minute of the game.
“Me and my teammates started jumping up and down on the bench and just watching the clock tick down… that’s when things really set in. We’ve worked so hard. We’ve got here and we did this all together as a team,” Weber said.
Sharks leading scorer through the regular season Anneka Aspaas added to the championship becoming a reality as the clock ticked down.
“That was the best feeling. Something that I’ve not really like been familiar with before and it was just pure joy from everyone. You can just tell that everyone just wants it so bad,” said Aspaas. “It’s been three years in the making and we have such a special group from the top down, full of heart and drive.
“We couldn’t have done it without everyone buying in.”
In the clinching game, rookie goaltender Aura Sembalerus pitched a 34-save shutout to clinch the championship.
“She’s the first one out of the door for us heading onto the ice. Our girls have a lot of confidence in her,” said Horbach. “To put up the season she had has been remarkable. I don’t think we win yesterday if she’s not kicking like she was.”
While the Sharks have finished on top of the Sask. Female U18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL), the season for them is not over. They head to Manitoba on April 3-5 for a three-game series against the winner of the Manitoba Female Hockey League (MFHL) in western regionals.
The Winnipeg Ice hold a 2-1 series lead over the Eastman Selects in the MFHL finals. The winner of western regionals will move onto the Esso Cup in Dieppe, New Brunswick.
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