RED COMES FROM BEHIND TO BEAT FLAMES IN FALL FESTIVAL OPENER

JORDAN MADY

CALGARY, Alta. – Sophie Shirley (Saskatoon, Sask./Okanagan Hockey Academy, CSSHL) provided the game-winning goal 3:16 into overtime, and Red erased a trio of one-goal deficits to edge the Calgary AAA Flames 4-3 in the opening game Thursday at Canada’s National Women’s Team Fall Festival.

With the teams playing three-on-three in the extra period, Amy Potomak (Aldergrove, B.C./Pacific, JWHL) circled the net before finding Shirley, who tapped the deciding goal into an empty net.

Potomak contributed a team-high three points, picking up three assists, while Renata Fast (Burlington, Ont./Toronto, CWHL) had a goal and a helper for the Canadian women.

The Flames struck quickly; Dylan Holloway deked through a Red defender and fed Cameron Pollock-Hughes, who beat Red goaltender Erica Howe (Orleans, Ont./Brampton, CWHL) to open the scoring just 2:22 in.

Fast got Red even less than four minutes later, finishing off a pretty set up by Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, Ont./Linköping HC, SWE) and Sarah Edney (Mississauga, Ont./Brampton, CWHL), but Noah Walters converted on the power-play for the Midget side to restore its lead at 14:37.

Red needed just 88 seconds to tie the game again; Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./Montreal, CWHL) made a tape-to-tape pass to Katelyn Gosling (London, Ont./Calgary, CWHL), who beat Flames netminder Benjamin Howard over the glove to make it 2-2 after one period.

Calgary retook the lead early in the second period when Linden Babcock beat Howe off a feed from Aiden Mucenski, but Natalie Spooner (Scarborough, Ont./Toronto, CWHL) wired a shot past Howard late in the middle frame on a Red power play to keep the game tied through 40 minutes.

The teams ramped up the offence in the third period, combining for 21 shots, but Howard and Emerance Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, Alta./Calgary, CWHL) – who replaced Howe midway through the second period – kept the game even and forced overtime.

The Flames finished with a 28-22 advantage in shots in goal.

Red will be in action Friday night (8:30 p.m. MT) when it faces White in the first of two intrasquad games, while the Flames meet the Calgary AAA Royals in an all-Alberta Midget Hockey League match-up at 5:30 p.m. MT.