If one thinks Prince George’s top female midget hockey team was going to be tired coming into their first home game 56 days into the new season, they would easily be mistaken.
Friday night (Nov. 29) was the Northern Capitals’ first taste of sweet Prince George ice of 2019-20 and began the weekend with a big statement against the Vancouver Island Seals in shutting them out by a score of 6-0.
“We were relentless tonight,” said newly-appointed captain Paige Outhouse in an interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters following the victory, which was the Caps’ fifth in their last seven tilts.
“That’s our team motto and to just never give up; work-ethic is also number one for us. [...] We’re opinionated for sure, but that’s a good thing because when the team has one opinion we go with it and no one’s disagreeing or anything. It’s one opinion and we’ll work with that.”
The offensive scales showed virtually no contest as the local girls outshot the winless Seals 44-14, sending 18 pucks to the net in each of the first two periods and adding eight more in the third.
Outhouse believes her team was able to put the Seals to sleep early and often as a result of well-balanced lines.
“I want to say having two down low and one high, and the cycling just about killed them every time,” the 17-year-old forward said, while also crediting goaltender Tessa Sturgeon’s stellar performance for her fifth win in seven starts.
“That’s a big win for her, for sure. She played solid in the net tonight and she’s a great team player, obviously. She played the puck a little bit too, so that’s always good to have that in a goaltender.”
Head Coach Mario Desjardins and his staff selected Outhouse to lead this year’s female midget AAA squad as she is the only three-season veteran on the roster.
She’s looking forward to wearing the ‘C’ for the rest of 2019-20 and having her family visit Prince George all the way from Williams Lake to watch her play another season, but emphasizes it doesn’t matter who wears a letter on the team.
“I felt that from the very beginning of the season by being the only third-year. I felt like I had to put my right foot forward and help the team out with some things they might not know coming up from bantam and it’s a ‘we’ mentality already.”
The Northern Capitals had six different players with multi-point games yesterday in Kin 2 Arena, including three from Dawson Creek product Hailey Armstrong.
The 14-year-old rookie contributed on each of the first three goals for the home side, notching an assist on the opening two markers before scoring her fourth of the year just minutes into the middle frame.
Alternate Captain Brette Kerley potted back-to-back goals in a span of 2:27 in the second period, adding to her team-leading eight goals and 10 points through 14 games.
Outhouse had an apple on both of Kerley’s killers against Vancouver Island.
Maria Ayre scored the Caps’ first goal on home ice this year at the 7:34 mark of the opening period and added an assist on Armstrong’s goal.
Nancy Moore and Keagan Goulet each had a goal as well to round out the scoring in the 6-0 final.
The B.C. Female Midget League standings has the Northern Capitals sitting in third place with a record of 7-6-1-0.
The Northern Capitals are back in action this afternoon (Nov. 30), 3:30 p.m. at Kin 2 Arena once again for the second of the three-game home-opening series with Vancouver Island.
Both teams will finish the weekend Sunday morning (Dec. 1), 7:30 a.m. from the CN Centre.
