A season-ending win for the young ladies of the Banff Hockey Academy was a double victory for the program as it said farewell to a condensed schedule.
BHA (3-4-1) won 3-1 Sunday against Kelowna, B.C.’s Pursuit of Excellence hockey academy (POE) in Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) action.
The game highlighted the BHA program’s first-ever Female CSSHL Showcase weekend (Feb. 26-28) at the Fenlands rec centre.
Ten games (CSSHL and exhibition) between five teams took centre stage at the Fenlands.
Before skating onto the glossy ice Sunday, BHA took a moment together to focus on the keys of the game after a rocky weekend for the mountain town team.
It proved to have success as Banff forward Maria Golbs had a game high three-point performance, scoring twice and adding a helper. Forward Kailee McGarry scored the game-winning goal in the second period and had an assist and on defence, Rose Noonan added an assist.
BHA stayed sharp in the final minutes, preserving a one-goal lead against POE.
Added pressure was forced on the young ladies when POE pulled its goalie with under a minute remaining, but BHA stood tall against the attacking club.
An empty netter in the dying seconds against their rival sealed the victory for BHA.
BHA goalie Rachel Fontinha made 39 saves in her final CSSHL game with the club.
“Today was probably our best game of the season,” said Fontinha. “We all came together before the game and we all decided we’re going to play as a team today.”
Fontinha’s season-ending CSSHL stats with BHA are a 3-4-1 record and a .931 save-percentage.
“Coming out with the three losses on the weekend and playing POE, we were a little down, but we knew if we worked as hard as we could we could get the W,” said Fontinha.
BHA dropped three of four games during the showcase against the Shaftesbury Titans (4-1; 4-1), and Northern Alberta X-Treme (4-2).
BHA female coach Cassea Schols said consistency wasn’t a strong point for the team on the weekend, but some extra grit and elbow grease paid off Sunday.
“Everyone worked extremely hard; we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Schols.
“What we’ve been saying all year is we need to overachieve to be successful and I think (Sunday) we overachieved and put BHA on the map. We’re here to compete and we’re ready.”
Leading into the showcase weekend, CSSHL announced plans to increase the female division to make it a full regular season earlier in February, complete with playoffs to determine a division champ.
In light of the announcement, every team sized up the competition and looked to make a name for themselves ahead of the landmark season.
“Obviously, we’re fighting to be one of those top programs,” said Schols. “I think we have the facility and place to be one of those top programs in the female game. I think every team saw what was coming for next year, not just for BHA, but all the teams.”
The look on the female side will mirror the males, with it being split into prep and varsity squads to offer a competitive balance at each level.
Banff will ice a team in the female varsity division, alongside the Delta, B.C. Hockey Academy, B.C.’s Shawnigan Lake School, and Idaho, U.S.A.’s Coeur d’ Alene Hockey Academy.
