Red road to gold, game 2: Calgary Fire White

Bex Alloway, Calgary Fire Red (in white), and Alessandra Imperato, Calgary Fire White (in red), in action during their Alberta Provincial Championship (Midget Female Elite) game at the Coca Cola Centre, Grande Prairie on March 29, 2019. © J. Ashley Nixon

Calgary Fire Red’s second game in the 2019 Alberta Hockey Provincial Championships (Midget Female Elite) was played against Calgary Fire White at the Coca-Cola Centre, Grande Prairie on March 29. Fire Red opened their account in the closing seconds of the first period with a goal scored by Olivia Sutton, assisted by Kelly Stanford.

Up-ice struggle

The Red elation was not long-lasting. Twenty-seven seconds after the interval, Fire White equalized with a goal from Carys Ursell, then Mila Preville struck again, assisted by Ursell. Five minutes later, Fire White strengthened their hold on the game with a third, scored by Sarah Gaiser, assisted by Jessica Younker. It was turning into an up-ice struggle for the Reds, but they stuck with their plan and pulled back with a goal scored by Teah Workman, assisted by Ella Kitchen as the second period closed out.

Playoff pressure

Into the third and with the playoff pressure piling up between the Fire Sisters, Kelly Stanford rescued Red with a blaster that beat Cienna Kinghorn glove-side into the top right corner of the net. All tied up after regular time, this one was going into overtime.

Audacious, highlight reel goal

Overtime win

Fifteen minutes into overtime, Stanford broke the deadlock with an audacious, highlight reel goal. Skating hard down the left wing from inside her own half, she beat a defender and drove to the net. Her shot was initially saved by Kinghorn who moved in tandem with her opponent to the right side of the net. The puck rebounded from the goalie’s pads back towards the front of the net, outside the blue paint. But with Kinghorn stranded, Stanford turned at the goal line to see the unguarded prize sitting there. She swooped back. Two Fire White defenders dived desperately for the puck. Stanford launched her body across the ice surface and, with a fully outstretched stick, made contact first to score and win the game.

Final score: Calgary Fire White 3-4 Calgary Fire Red

More match reports and photos

Calgary Fire Red went on to win gold in the Alberta Provincial Champions (Midget Female Elite),  winning all five of their playoff games.

To see more photos from this and other games in the 2019 Alberta Hockey Provincial Championships please visit J. Ashley Nixon Communications. You can read a full report of Calgary Fire Red’s gold final game versus St. Albert Sharks here.