In what was the Cochrane Chaos' first loss since mid-October, the team now faces what could be the end of a remarkable season.
The Alberta Junior Female Hockey League (AJFHL) team, who had a regular season record of 26-2, land in the nest of the Lethbridge Eagles for Game 2 of their three-game south final playoff series Saturday, March 5. Game 1 saw the Eagles soar above the Chaos with a 4-1 win at Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) Family Sports Centre Feb. 25.
The Chaos' lone goal came in the second period from Brooklyn Carels, assisted by Teah Workman and Faith Greenough.
"Lethbridge played a really, really strong game and smothered us all over the ice," said head coach Derek Loomer. "Their backcheck was relentless, their forecheck was relentless and then when we had our breaks, our opportunities to score — the puck just didn't bounce."
There were breakaways and rebounds in front of the net where the Chaos would normally capitalize, he added, but it just wasn't their night.
Team captain Kaley Mueller, who plays left-wing, said she had a suspicion that a loss was on the horizon for the team, who went on a runaway 23-game win streak, including two showcase games and their two wins in the division's south playoff semifinals against the Calgary Jags.
"Coming into playoffs, it's like a whole different ballgame," said Mueller. "Players are going to be playing out of desperation so I kind of had a feeling this might happen somewhere down the road, but we're really good at bouncing back, learning from it and taking that positivity out of games like this."
Going into Game 2, she said the team will be working on picking up passes, capitalizing on shots and "just bringing positivity to the bench."
The six-year-old organization has yet to win the league championship but entered playoffs atop every other team by a sizable margin. Behind the Chaos in the south, the Eagles finished their regular season with a record of 20-8. In the league's north division, the Edmonton Wolves had a record of 19-4, though they also had less games throughout the season.
The two teams are responsible for the only two losses the Chaos had all year.
In the last league final in 2019, Edmonton beat Cochrane for the championship, but the Wolves are currently in the midst of the north final against the Lloydminster Rustlers and are down one in the series.
"It would be the most amazing thing," said Mueller of potentially making it to the final again with a win this year. "Especially as a model for the younger groups now, like the [Minor Junior A] Chaos. Going all the way for them and having players who have been here since day one, like Summer Gibbons, it would mean the world to pull off this win for them."
Gibbons and a number of others have been playing for the team since 2018. Mueller joined in 2019 after coming off two seasons with the Red Deer Chiefs Minor AAA hockey club and a 2018-19 season with the SAIT Trojans.
Their teammate, forward Sara Gaiser, currently tops the league for scoring with 48 points and goalies Cassidy Brown and Ella Fournier share second and third place in the goal-tending ranks with an overall save percentage of 92 per cent.
