It’s taken two months for Prince George’s top-tier female hockey club to finally get a chance to sleep in their own beds ahead of competition.
The Northern Capitals will have their first homestand of the 2019-20 season this weekend when they welcome the Vancouver Island Seals to the Kin and CN Centres, and they appear to be on an upswing.
The midget AAA team finished this past weekend with a 2-1 record against the Fraser Valley Rush, winning by scores of 3-2 both Saturday (Nov. 23) and Sunday (Nov. 24) after coming up a goal short on Friday (Nov. 22) in a 4-3 loss.
In their last six games, the Caps have earned nine of a possible 12 points in regular-season play, a record of 4-1-1, and continue to build momentum in the five-team B.C. Female Midget AAA League.
“It’s about peaking at the right time of the season,” said Northern Capitals head coach Mario Desjardins in an earlier interview with PrinceGeorgeMatters on the team's travels through 13 games.
“We’re really getting to know each other as far as teammates and on the ice as well. So it’s going to take some time, but I feel like we’re on track and, in some cases a little bit ahead of schedule on some of the things we've been working on; re-grouping and our offensive pressure system and then getting into our defensive systems as well. The girls are picking them up really quickly.”
Brette Kerley led the offensive push down in Coquitlam and Langley with five points, including three goals and two assists.
She and Pyper Alexander, who notched a hat-trick in Friday’s loss, lead the Caps with six goals each this year, while Brooklyn Hutchings, who posted two assists this weekend, leads the season scoring race with nine points overall.
Pyper Alexander🎩🧢🎩with a hat trick today. Congratulations Pyper!!https://t.co/zsS8JUxYke #hudl
— Northern Capitals (@NCapitalsfmaaa) November 23, 2019
Paige Outhouse (4), Ocean Andersen (2), Destiny Bautista (2) and Brooke Norkus (2) each had multiple points this weekend.
Cadence Petitclerc-Crosby was between the pipes for Sunday’s victory and Friday’s setback, while Tessa Sturgeon picked up her fourth win in six starts on Saturday.
The Northern Capitals are fourth in the league standings with a 6-6-1-0 record and 13 points, but have played three games less than third-place Thompson-Okanagan Lakers.
The ladies’ first set of home games against the winless Seals (0-16) will be in Kin 2 Arena Friday (Nov. 29) at 6:15 p.m. and Saturday (Nov. 30) starting at 3:30 p.m.
Both teams will close out the series with a 7:30 a.m. puck-drop Sunday (Dec. 1) at the CN Centre.
