Chiefs 4 Raiders 1
The return of Janelle Froehler was just the tonic the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs needed in their do-or-die playoff encounter with the Highwood Raiders Sunday at Kin City.
Froehler rejoined the team after missing a month with a concussion and paid dividends right away, scoring an insurance goal before about 225 fans as the Chiefs downed the Raiders 4-1 in the fifth and deciding game of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League South Division final.
“Having her back was a big boost for our team, it made a big difference. The girls wanted her back and she wanted to be back,” said Sutter Fund coach Mickey Girard.
“She had the clearance before the weekend to play, but was unable to get in a workout until yesterday. Then she was good to go. She’s fine now.”
After taking a 2-0 lead in the series, the Chiefs lost 4-3 in overtime Friday at Kin City and 1-0 Saturday afternoon in High River.
If there were any concerns regarding the Sutter Fund crew — already missing two key players due to injury — being able to summon the energy to emerge victorious in Game 5, they were put to rest early as the Chiefs led 1-0 after 20 minutes on a goal by Ashley Graf.
“We talked about that and I think Froehler coming back rejuvenated a lot of people,” said Girard.
“Our four ‘D’ were very steady again today and we got solid goaltending (from Camille Trautman). It was a solid effort all around.”
Graf’s second goal of the game gave Red Deer a 2-0 lead in the second period before Lauren Fredrich responded for the visitors late in the frame.
Froehler converted a pass from Hannah Mousek 1:03 into the third period at the tail end of a two-man Red Deer advantage, and Cassidy Anderson closed out the scoring with an empty-net marker at 18:49.
“We were good in all areas today and we kind of took care of their No. 14 (Katy Josephs). She killed us the last two games,” said Girard.
Trautman made 20 saves, while Jenni Schmidt stopped 34 shots for Highwood.
The Chiefs will meet the North Division champion Edmonton Thunder in a best-of-five league final, with the first two games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in the provincial capital.
The third game will be played March 25 at Kin City, the site of a fourth game — if needed — the following day. If a fifth game is required, it will go March 27 in Edmonton.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com