The almost 300 fans in attendance at Wednesday night's home game between the Richardson Pioneer Gold Wings and Melville Prairie Fire were treated to an exciting game.
Melville opened the scoring when Jaydea Guenter-Belte scored an unassisted, short-handed goal late in the first period. Melville hung on, sending the Gold Wings into the first intermission down by one.
Approaching the halfway point of the second period, Kaitlyn Blair put the Gold Wings on the board, assisted by Payton Mabee and Madison Lafoy to tie the game at 1-1. Melville’s Guenter-Belte answered back with her second of the night, giving the Prairie Fire a 2-1 edge after two periods.
The third period is where things really started to click for the Gold Wings. Melville scored a powerplay goal five minutes into the period to give the Prairie Fire a much-needed insurance goal. Erin Armstrong of the Prairie Fire then took a high sticking penalty, allowing Jayden Lindholm to put one past goaltender Taylor Nagy on the powerplay thanks to a great play set up by Janna Keisig and Dakota Bowler, making it a 3-2 contest.
Minutes later, Lindholm scored her second of the night in a frantic scrum in front of the net, bringing the game to a 3-3 tie. Nothing was settled in the remaining minutes, so the girls went into overtime.
The Gold Wings were unable to score on two powerplays in the first overtime period, and a number of key saves were made by Wings goalie, Daneka Dickson.
It took only 29 seconds into the second overtime for Heather Fiske to finally pot one past Dickson on a very awkward shot that snuck past her glove to send the Prairie Fire home with a 4-3 overtime win. Dickson made 59 saves on the night.
The next action for the Gold Wings is Tuesday, Dec. 12, when they travel to Regina to take on the Rebels. The next home game for the Wings is Sunday, Dec. 17, against the Notre Dame Hounds at 7 p.m. in the first annual Toque and Mitt Toss. Bring new or lightly used toques and mitts for free admission, and toss them on the ice when the Gold Wings score their first goal. All warm clothing items will then be donated to local schools and charities.
