Saints Fall Short Versus Buckeyes

In the Winnipeg Women's High School Hockey League Monday afternoon, PCI Saints fell to Miles Mac Buckeyes 4-3 at Stride Place.

The teams went into the third period tied 2-all. Tryniti Mercier and Madison Ballantyne scored for PCI in the first and second periods, respectively.

In the third, the Buckeyes made it 3-2, but Medah Fletcher brought the Saints even a few minutes later.

Miles Mac scored again, making it 4-3, and despite a furious attack by the Saints, held on for the win.

Saints' coach Jo-Anne Clark-Gillespie feels the team was a little sluggish.

"We didn't maybe attack as much as we wanted to offensively," she says, "We didn't really have our speed game going, but even the first three games of the year, we're pretty happy how many shots we're getting onto the net. We're outshooting teams, but just had a bad bounce on their tying goal. They only had the one power play goal, but they had a lot of power play opportunities, and we have to learn not to be our own worst enemies, and find ourselves killing penalties all the time."

Clark-Gillespie credits the effort from goalie Hailey Dayholos.

"She's really learning how to battle for loose pucks, and things like that," she says. "I think the line of Madison Ballantyne, Natasha Rosset, and Tryniti Mercier really set the tone of backchecking and working hard. The girls that do kill penalties, Madison and Natasha and Ashley Lamblez, they did really well killing penalties.

Clark-Gillespie acknowledges the team's disappointed.

"You just have to know that you, yourself, individually did what needed to do on the ice for your team," she says, "We know we just take away from games like this what we need to tighten up on, and things to work on, and just look at what we can do to try and improve some of the things that went the wrong way."

Next up for the Saints is a road game Wednesday versus Sturgeon Heights.