It was an exciting night of Manitoba Female Midget Hockey at the BDO Centre in Portage last night.

The Central Plains Capitals fell 2-1 to the Winnipeg Avros in an unfortunate 4 round shootout. The Caps were a little slow out of the gate but goaltender Lacey Friesen stood tall and kept the game scoreless heading into the second. There was only one penalty that period and it went to Central Plains.

Both teams seemed to find a little more offense in the second and the Avros struck first. They took the lead on a powerplay around the 10 minute mark, much like the last time they met at the PCU Centre. Central Plains was able to tie things up shortly after when Janelle Delaquis found the back of the net. Maiya Aschberg and Taylor Woodward picked up assists on the play.

The third period was a battle for every inch, with most of the frame being played along the boards behind either teams net. The Caps had 2 powerplay opportunities in the 3rd, but couldn't seem to get any pucks through the legs of the Avros' defenders. 20 minutes solved nothing and the teams went to overtime. The Avros had 2 breakaways on Friesen, one on a 4-on-3 powerplay in overtime, the second a couple of minutes later to send the game to a shootout. Both teams squandered a powerplay opportunity to close out O.T.

Friesen making one of her 3 saves in the shootout.

4 shooters were needed from each team in the shootout. Friesen made 3 saves to keep her team alive, but was beat high glove on the 4th shooter. The Capitals first shooter suffered a flawless pokecheck from former goaltender Lauren Taraschuk stopped her dead in her tracks. The Caps then went on to hit 3 posts on their next 3 shooters, sealing the Avros' victory.

"That's a team that everybody has in contention for first place," says Caps' Head Coach Ferdi Nelissen. "We've now played them twice and that's 3 powerplay goals they've scored on us, and we haven't given up a 5-on-5 goal against them. Now we've got to find a way to score ourselves, or be better on our powerplay."

The Caps powerplay went 0-4 on the powerplay, but 1-6 on the penalty kill. Goaltender Lacey Friesen stopped a total of 6 breakaways -- including shootout shooters -- during the game, 2 late in O.T. Nelissen says she played incredible throughout the game, especially in the extra frame.

"She made big saves. A couple of breakaways, that's huge because we're pressing and they get a quick turn. That happens when you're 4-on-4 in O.T. Do you want it to happen, no, but she stood tall."

The Caps now fall to 1-1-1 this season.