East Central Fillies win provincial crown in fifth overtime

It took more than seven periods, but the East Central Fillies are once again provincial champions.

The Saskatchewan Female Hockey League under-18 A showdown between the Fillies and Milestone Flyers turned into a marathon game, reaching the fifth overtime period. East Central’s Bryer Renwick finally netted the championship-winning goal, ending the game 3-2 at the 5:48 mark in the game’s eighth period.

“I was relieved when it was over,” said Meikka Ehlert, captain of the team. “By the fifth or sixth (period), I was like, ‘Go out and score on the first shift, because I don’t want to go back out.’

“It was a huge relief (when Renwick scored). We were so excited we finally finished it.”

Head coach Murray Ehlert – Meikka’s dad – said he was happy to see the hard work the team put in all season pay off.

“They put in the time and deserved it. The other team, they were no slouch to take us as far as they did,” said Murray, whose team won the best-of-three final in two games – both in overtime.

“I was very happy for (the Fillies). You’re standing there watching, hoping, helping them out, but in the end it was up to them to just skate as hard as they could and try to win the battles, which they did.

“They got what they went there for.”

While fatigue was becoming an issue for both teams, Murray said spirits remained high in the East Central locker room.

“We come back in the room and they were all laughing and joking and I knew then that they were probably going to pull it off,” Murray said.

Meikka admitted it can be hard to stay positive when a game goes on that long.

“You kind of just want to be done, but all season we were never that tense in the dressing room. We were always having a good time and I think that’s why we were able to do what we did,” said Meikka, who scored the overtime winner in the Fillies’ 2-1 Game 1 victory.

“It wasn’t tense and we could all have fun still.”

The Fillies play out of the Leroy arena, but the team has players from Humboldt, Raymore, Wadena, Watson and other communities.

“Last year, we were very short (of players). We were barely able to get enough kids to ice a team, but we did it. It’s nice that there’s becoming more teams around the province that we can play,” Murray said.

It was the second straight provincial title for the team.

“It starts in practice. They are a good group of kids who don’t bellyache about extra sets of lines or drills that are hard-fought,” Murray said.

“The final game was the end result we were looking for but it took all year to get that.”

It was a special one for Meikka, who was in her last year of eligibility for the age group.

“All year we worked hard, especially the girls that are graduating, because it’s our last year and we have to make it a good one,” Meikka said.

“We showed up to practice and skated and did everything we could do to win. We also had fun.”