The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Coming back from a 3-0 deficit was all about settling down and not overthinking”
[ by Than Acuff ]
It was a tough season from the start for the West Elk Hockey Association Wolverines u19 girls team with a massive road schedule and numbers at the older age group down from past years. Yet, the players persevered through it all closing out the regular season on a high note before being eliminated from the playoffs last weekend.
The Wolverines played numerous games with a thin bench and the same was true during the playoffs as they had nine players total, including their goalie, suit up for their first game on Friday, February 10 against Durango. And while the Wolverines beat Durango earlier in the season, they brought a few extra weapons to the league playoffs.
“Durango has some players who double roster on more competitive teams in the state, but they seem to always show up at the state tournament,” says coach Hannah Valian. “So yes, they had a bit of a different team with those few really fast players.”
But the Wolverines had a plan in place in an effort to manage their limited numbers and not get caught up in the high pace of the game.
“With a short bench, we decided to put our strongest five players in the defense and center positions and our three remaining players rotated through the wings. So, we had a strong core which helped keep us grounded,” says Valian.
Durango opened on the throttle scoring in the first minute of the game and while their speed advantage was obvious, the grit and smart positional play of the Wolverines helped stem the Durango tide. The times they did get through for looks on net, Wolverines’ goalie Reilly Seward was there to make the save and the Wolverines held tight with Durango.
Nicola Roberts worked hard to keep the defensive zone tight while looking to create some offense and with Tessa Wirsing and Maegan Knight each providing additional key work on defense and in neutral ice, the Wolverines survived the initial Durango attack.
A Wolverines penalty in the 10th minute of the period opened up the ice for Durango and they capitalized with a powerplay goal, but the Wolverines got back to work once they were back to full strength.
The work of Roberts, Cassidy Wirsing and Gabi Silva all opened shots for the Wolverines on the Durango net but they couldn’t get the puck past the Durango goalie and Durango held their 2-0 lead until the end of the first period.
The brief break between periods gave coaches Valian and Alex Stefan some time to remind their players of what was needed in the second period if they wanted to stay in the game.
“Durango had several odd man rushes out of their zone in the first period which meant we needed to adjust our offensive attack a little bit,” explains Valian. “We needed to make sure our center stayed in the high slot if the D were going to step up and hold the blue line.”
It took a while for the Wolverines to adjust though, and Durango caught them once again on an odd man rush to score for a 3-0 lead.
Yet, true to their character all season long, the Wolverines continued to battle ultimately cashing in on all of their effort when Roberts skated past a Durango defenseman to score. Following a Wolverines penalty kill, they struck again as Vivian White found the back of net and then Tessa scored 45 seconds later to tie the game up by the end of the second period.
“Coming back from a 3-0 deficit was all about settling down and not overthinking,” says Valian. “I think there were some nerves in the first period that finally settled down as the girls found their rhythm and started playing with each other.”
The Wolverines continued to push to open the third period but with such a short bench, they eventually grew tired while Durango kept pushing. Durango retook the lead four minutes into the third period and while the Wolverines put in one last gasp to try and tie the game, Durango countered with a late game goal for the 5-3 win.
“I really thought we were gonna pull off a game-tying goal in the last minute of the game when we put out a power line. They came so close,” says Valian.
The loss sent the Wolverines to play New Mexico the next morning to try and remain alive in the post season. But the effort from the previous night had worn down the Wolverines and New Mexico jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Roberts scored in the opening minutes of the second period, but New Mexico tacked on two more goals to go up 6-1.
The Wolverines struck first again in the third period when Paloma Lamar carried the puck through traffic up the boards to assist Silva on her goal, but New Mexico scored once again for the 7-2 win ending the Wolverines season.
“Our game Saturday with New Mexico definitely didn’t go the way we hoped,” says Valian. “That short bench seemed to really catch up with everyone. They were a bit beat up physically and couldn’t quite find the legs to play at New Mexico’s level. It was a tough way to end the season, but there were still a ton of successes to celebrate.”
The season was still considered a success and the program now looks to the future which remains a bit uncertain, but hopeful.
“They learned how to work together, they celebrated their successes even when they lost, and they kept showing up and working hard every game,” says Valian. “As far as the future, I hope the numbers continue to grow.”
