The Central Alberta Amazons went down to Cowtown on the weekend and came back as first-round victors with a 3-1 win over the Calgary Warriors Feb. 2.
“Overall we played well,” said Amazons coach Doug Demott. “The first game we had a slow start. This game we played hard right from the beginning.”
Fighting through 19 penalty minutes the girls managed to eke out the win in a grittier second game against a team that had found new life with home ice advantage.
“They play their best hockey when they play with a little edge,” he said of the Calgary team's ferocity. “We've had a few pretty close games with them.”
As the Warriors were about to get a penalty in the first the Amazons pulled their goalie and sent another attacker onto the ice. Mackenzie Demott grabbed the rebound off the backboard in the offensive zone and fired the puck in the net to go ahead early on.
She got another later in the game and Danielle Petersen, the defenceman from Fir Mountain, Sask., also hit the back of the net to lend a hand in the win.
The Amazons move on to the division final against the Lethbridge Jr. Eagles – a familiar matchup.
“We've played the last two years in the final,” said Eagles coach Keith Hitchcock. “They went on to the final two years ago, we went last year.”
The teams even had identical records in the regular season this year.
“They're hard-fought games,” Hitchcock said. “We score more goals but they don't give up many goals.
“You want to put on a decent show.”
Lethbridge will have home ice advantage this weekend.
