The Calgary Oval X-Treme's hope for a fifth consecutive WWHL championship title was dashed Sunday by the Minnesota Whitecaps, who won their first title with a shut out victory, 2-0, at the Strathmore Family Centre. Expectations for a close game were high, with the two teams only four points a part coming out of the regular season. The X-Treme had only two losses, while the Whitecaps had three.
The game started at 12:15 pm and remained scoreless for the first period. Only after Minnesota's Erin Keyes goal, half way through the second period on an assist from Molly Engstrom, did numbers get on the board.
The X-Treme had several chances to score with more than double shots on net versus the Whitecaps, but couldn't squeeze the puck past the Minnesota goaltender Megan Van Beusekom. The American team secured the championship title at the start of the third period, with their second and last goal of the game scored by Karen Thatcher, assisted by Jinelle Zaugg and Jenny Potter, ending the game 2-0.
X-Treme player of the game was Gina Kingsbury, and for the Whitecaps, Keys was named player of the game.
Despite the loss, Calgary Oval X-Treme finished with the best regular season record of 20-2-0-1 and 42 points. Canadian National Team and Olympic gold medalist Gina Kingsbury was the top goal-getter for the league, with three of her teammates taking the second, fourth and fifth spots for most points over the 2008-2009 season. X-Treme goalies Newell and Tapp were the top two goalies of the WWHL, followed by Sanya Sandahl and Van Beusekom, from the Whitecaps.
Both teams are now set to travel east to the Scotiabank National Championships taking place March 19-21 in Kingston, ON, where they will face off against the top two teams in the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL).
For complete game details, visit westernwomenshockeyleague.com.
Courtesy of WWHL.
