The U18 AAA female Central Plains Capitals competed for the first time this season today in their annual showcase tournament at Stride Place.

The Caps took on the Pembina Valley Hawks in a game that ended in a 4-4 tie as the showcase tournament doesn’t do overtime periods to keep games on schedule.

The Caps opened the scoring early in the first period as Brynn Tosh picked up the puck down low in the offensive zone. She made a quick move behind the net before tucking it past the Hawks goaltender to get on the board in the first minute of the game. 1-0 Central Plains. 

Despite a few chances on each side, the goaltenders stood tall for the rest of the frame and it remained 1-0 after 20 minutes.

In the early going of the second period, the Capitals tried to take advantage of what already worked, the wrap-around. During a power-play in the first five minutes of the frame, Central Plains attempted three wrap-arounds and got solid chances from all of them, however, none found the back of the net.

Midway through the period, Pembina Valley forward Gracie Carels beat Elyse Denbow in tight to tie the game at one.

Taylor Bell had a great chance as she received a pass behind the Hawks’ defence and was in all alone. Unfortunately for the Capitals, once she got the puck she had little room to operate. Bell made a great move to get the goalie out of position but hit the side of the net. The score stayed knotted after two periods.

Central Plains answered very early in the final frame as they entered it with a minute of power-play time. With just seconds left in the Pembina Valley penalty, Ava Mattews-McCulley fired a shot from the point that was tipped in front by Bell to give the Caps the lead.

Less than 10 seconds later, Phoenix Fries put the puck on the net and her initial shot was stopped, however, Medah Fletcher was there to tap in the rebound. It was now 3-1 after just 50 seconds of game time played in the third.

Near the halfway point in the final frame, with the Hawks on the power-play, Cambree Martens ripped a shot high blocker side to cut the Capitals’ lead to just one. Not even a minute later, however, Central Plains would get their two-goal lead right back.

On a power-play of their own, Central Plains had multiple bodies in front of the net in the offensive zone and it paid off. Bell was able to put home her second of the game as she had a wide-open cage on a rebound opportunity. 4-2 Capitals.

With seven minutes left of play Pembina Valley forward Jessica Anderson’s one-timer in tight and made it a one-goal contest once again. Pembina Valley’s Caitlin Anderson fired a shot on the short side just past the blocker of Denbow which tied the game at 4-4 with four minutes left to play.

Denbow stopped two scoring chances late, one from the point and the other off a rebound, to keep the game tied after regulation, however, because this was a tournament the end result was a 4-4 draw.

Capitals forward Brynn Tosh says it was great to get her first goal out of the way early.

“We had a really good breakout, the winger Kayleigh Solinski got it out of the zone and Jayda Clayton supported her. She chipped it past the defence, I got the puck and just wrapped it around the net,” says Tosh. “It was a really good feeling, I was excited to score and get the first one out of the way. Hopefully, there’s more to come.”

She says they found some things they have to work on after this outing.

“We have to start off hard and we need to work on our face-off plays,” says Tosh. “We have to make sure we hold the puck as long as we can and not give it away to the other team.”

Central Plains will be on the ice two more times over this weekend for the showcase tournament, the next outing being tomorrow at 10 a.m. against the St. Boniface Seals.