The St. Albert Slash are one loss away from playoff elimination as they head into Friday’s third game of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League north division final against rival Edmonton Thunder.
The Thunder leads the best-of-five series 2-0, with the Slash needing three straight wins to progress.
“We know we can beat them, we have beat them and we’re not going down without a fight,” said captain Eliza Snider. “I think they better watch their backs because we’re coming.”
The team fell short in the series opener Saturday, losing 5-2 after the Thunder rattled off three consecutive goals in the third period.
Heading into Sunday’s game at Clareview Arena with a loss, Snider said the team was even more determined to net a win.
“It definitely made us angrier and hungrier to come out to play and to win,” she said. “It’s really personal against this team and it always has been.”
The Slash narrowed the gap to a 2-1 score, but a win was still out of reach.
“We started out with pretty good energy. We wanted to really try to keep the tempo up,” said coach Terry Sydor. “Unfortunately, we took an early penalty and did a really good job of killing it off, but they scored just about five seconds after it expired.”
The Slash was down 2-0 until late in the second period, when forward Kate Lumley scored with less than one minute left on the clock.
“It felt good to do it for my team, but anyone could have done it,” she said. This goal marks Lumley’s second in the playoffs, both against the Thunder.
She said the team did “everything right,” but a few minor slip-ups ultimately cost it the game.
The Slash pulled its goalie for the last minute and a half of play and outshot the Thunder in the third period, but was ultimately unable to capitalize on its efforts.
“We just couldn’t get the equalizer,” Sydor said. “At this time of year, you need to win to keep playing and the girls want to keep going on, so the result is unfortunately not what we were looking for.”
He said the Thunder is the team’s “archrival” after eliminating the team from playoffs the last two times they faced one another.
“They’re a disciplined team and they play a very strong game – not that we don’t or can’t – but it was a battle of two titans and we just fell short,” he said. “It’s not from a lack of effort or caring or anything like that. The kids, they work hard and put everything they have into it.”
Losing both games, Lumley said it gives the team more fuel to fight.
“It gives us more motivation for the next game,” she said. “I think we’ll come out hard because I know this team wants to win. We want to win really bad.”
Snider agreed, adding she wants to win for her team as well as for herself, as it is her last year with the Slash.
“Sure, they’re higher in the standings than us, but we know we’re just as good as they are, if not better,” she said. “I want to prove to them that we’re the best team.”
The Thunder can end the series with a victory in Game 3, which begins at 7:45 p.m. Friday at the Callingwood Recreation Centre.
“We have to win a game and it starts with one game,” Sydor said. “We’re not trying to get too far ahead in what you have to do, but just focus on that one game, that one win.”
The Slash ranked second in the league’s north division regular season, outranked only by the Thunder. The winner will meet the winner of the south division final between Calgary Flyers and Medicine Hat Tigers.
