Eastman Female U18 AAA Selects top province thanks to double-overtime thriller

It took some extra work, but the Eastman Selects female U18 AAA team are provincial champions.

Sophia Heidinger struck a minute into double-overtime during the winner-takes-all game five of the Mantioba Female Hockey League finals, powering the Selects to a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Avros in Niverville March 29.

With Avros star goaltender Adriana Almeida at the top of her crease battling for a rebound, the puck bounced below the goal-line, where Heidinger was waiting, slipping a wraparound into the back of the net and setting off jubilant celebrations inside a packed Niverville Rec Centre.

“I’m not usually a wraparound-type of person, but I saw it and had to take the opportunity,” Heidinger said after the game.

“I never thought I’d be the person to put it in the net.”

Despite playing for the losing team, Almeida was named the league’s playoff most valuable player, as she kept the Avros in every game, posting consecutive shutouts to force game five in the first place.

Abby Dixon is the Selects team captain and was left struggling for words in the aftermath.

“It doesn’t even feel like life right now,” she said.

“I don’t even feel anything right now, it’s crazy.”

There was no doubt the game would be a low-scoring affair, as both teams clamped down throughout the series. After 2-1 sand 3-0 wins for Eastman to open the series, the Avros stormed back with a pair of 2-0 victories to force a decisive game five.

That meant every play held massive weight for the players.

“Everybody knew every shift we had to go,” Dixon said.

“We just locked in and worked hard every shift.”

Head coach Laird Laluk said he liked the way the Selects were playing in game five, out-shooting the Avros 49-34 over the course of the game and coming back from an early 1-0 deficit mid-way through the second period.

“I thought we were doing a good job of keeping them to the outside for the most part and making sure their star players weren’t sprung loose,” Laluk said.

“We believed in this group. From day one, we thought we had a special team. We didn’t know how special it was going to be.”

Laluk said he wasn’t surprised to see the team bounce back from a 1-0 deficit and win while staring down a potential blown 2-0 series lead.

“They’re the most mentally strong group I’ve ever coached,” he said.

“They pick each other up, they push each other, they hold each other accountable.”

Both Laluk and Dixon credited a mid-season tournament win in Ontario as a turning point for the team, with the coach calling it the team’s “coming out party.”

“We did so well there,” Dixon said.

“We knew if we kept pushing together, working hard together, we could do great things together. This is unreal.”

Laluk was quick to credit the entire AAA female Selects infrastructure for the victory. The U15 AAA Selects played game five in their final against Central Plains April 2, with the game finishing after press time.

“We’re lucky our programs are feeding up and coming into U18 and our players are ready to compete at this level,” Laluk said.

By winning the league, the Selects advance to the Esso Cup West Regional, playing against the Saskatoon Stars in Saskatchewan. The winner of the best-of-three series, advances to the national Esso Cup, hosted in Lloydminster this year.

“The reward for every win is a tougher game tomorrow,” Laluk said.

“We’re going to go to Saskatchewan, we’re going to do our best, we’re going to play hard. This has been a special season, they should be proud of themselves.”

The team will be updating their Manitoba-based fans on social media throughout the series, with games April 4, 5 and 6, if necessary.

For more photos from game five, be sure to check out the Carillon Sports Second Shots, published every Wednesday at thecarillon.com/sports.