Estevan peewee Vipers goaltender Chloe Sorenson was a wall against the Moose Jaw Mavericks this weekend.
In the Vipers 2-2 tie at Affinity Place on Sunday, the stubborn netminder refused to succumb to a tremendous attack from a bevy of Mavericks swift-skating and high-scoring forwards looking to notch a game winner late in the third period.
“They were just thirsty for a goal I guess,” said Sorenson, who helped improve her team’s South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League record to 7-2-2 with the tie. “They just pressured me as hard as they could, but I wasn’t going to let one through.”
The Mavericks (8-1-1) got on the board first with Ember DuSomme converting on a seeing-eye swipe while falling that just snuck between Sorenson’s pad and the post. Moose Jaw’s top line of Kaitlyn Gilroy, Sidney Ellingson and Keana MacLachlan kept the pressure up after the marker with the latter duo earning the next opportunity to score on a two-on-one late in the first period only to have the Vipers goalie nab a top corner short-side attempt.
Both teams battled hard defensively in the second period with neither seeming able to gain an advantage. The even play moved into the final stanza until a Mavericks penalty 1:05 in allowed Morgan Kjersem to tie the match on a deflection in front of Moose Jaw goalie Brooke Archer’s net.
Vipers right wing Caydence Chapman then put her team ahead midway through the frame by poking in a Kamri Olfert rebound that lay in the crease. Moose Jaw applied the pressure for the remainder of the third period with Gilroy getting the equalizer with 2:15 left on a shot from the slot that went low blocker far side.
“The two teams are really even,” said Sorenson. “I played hockey with some of these girls and they’re really good. We are both evenly matched and we both did our best too. We just took (the last) 10 minutes off and that’s what made the tie.”
Sorenson said the Mavericks beating them 4-2 at the Civic Auditorium one day earlier helped them understand they needed to put the work in to match up. She said that mindset allowed them to better compete with their northern rivals in the second game and they’ll need to continue making that effort in the weeks ahead as the team prepares for a date in Swift Current against the Ice Cats (3-5) on Dec. 17 and 18.
“We want to keep working on making good passes because we chucked them everywhere in the first period,” she said. “And (not) giving up the puck.”
