The Tri-Port Midget Wild travelled down island to face the Campbell River Hurricanes in a rubber match on Sunday, putting their five-game winning streak on the line against one of the top ranked teams in the league.
The Wild and the Hurricanes are both known for their strong goaltending, with Hurricanes goaltender Ashley Hogg having the lowest Goals Against (18) in the entire Midget division, and the Wild’s goaltender Avary Miller coming in a very close second with 20 Goals Against.
The Hurricanes had previously defeated the Wild 5-2 back in October at the start of the season, and the Wild returned the favour by winning the rematch 1-0 in December.
With this game being the last time the two teams would face each other before playoffs, and with first place in the division riding on the outcome, the Wild knew they were in for a dogfight on the Hurricanes home turf.
The game was another close match up, with both teams shutting down each other’s offence and keeping the score close.
Defencewoman Mandy Foldy would open the scoring for the Wild with a goal at 8:10 of the first period, assisted by captain Kerrigan Sharpe, and the score would stay that way until there was less than three minutes left in the second, when the Hurricanes Dannika McAllister scored on a five-on-three power play, tying it up 1-1.
Into the third and final period of play the game went with the score still tied, when all of a sudden Foldy again changed the course of the afternoon by passing the puck to Wild sniper Bree-Anna Henderson, who found the back of the net for her 21st goal of the season with 12:17 left on the clock, giving the Wild the lead back. The Wild would manage to hold on from there, winning 2-1 in what turned out to be another very close game between two talented teams.
The Wild are currently on a six-game winning streak with their new head coach Mike Bell, posting an 8-2-1 record, with their next game of the season Feb. 3 at 2:30 p.m. at the Don Cruickshank Memorial Arena in Port Hardy against their league rivals the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
