It was a good long break for the U13 AA female Lakeland Panthers, who last saw action on the weekend of Dec. 13–14. But this past weekend, it was time to get back to work.

On Saturday, the Panthers hit the ice at the home of Aspen “Machine Gun Kelly,” the A.G. Ross Arena in Elk Point, taking on one of the top teams in the league, the St. Albert Raiders Bolts.

The Panthers came out of the chute flying.

Just one minute into the opening frame, Morgan “Sinner” Oomen opened the scoring to give Lakeland an early 1–0 lead. The goal was assisted by a hard-working forechecking tandem of Grace Manson and Mila Moosewah-Littlechild.

The Raiders tied the game early in the second period, but the Panthers didn’t weaken. Jada Fineday restored the Lakeland lead with a shot that beat the Raiders netminder, assisted by team captain Maggie Mahe.

In the third period, the Raiders came on strong, scoring on their first shift to knot the game at two. The Panthers showed signs of wearing down but held on until just over three minutes remained, when the Raiders scored to take a 3–2 lead.

Panthers head coach Shaun Hebert called a timeout with one minute left and a faceoff in the Raiders’ zone. Pulling the goalie and sending out six skaters, Lakeland peppered the Raiders goalie with another 10 shots in the final minute but couldn’t find the equalizer.

Final score: 3–2 for St. Albert.

Panthers goaltender Jayvrie Houle was stellar, facing 39 shots in the loss.

Early Sunday morning, the Panthers hit the trail to the bright lights of Edmonton to face another top North Division team, the Blue Ice.

There was no scoring in the first period, although Lakeland carried the play, outshooting the Ice 7–3.

Five minutes into the second period, the Ice struck first to take the lead. Halfway through the period, Vienna “The Bug” Colbourne tied things up with a wicked one-timer, set up perfectly from behind the net by Morgan “Sinner” Oomen. The power-play goal showed clear chemistry between the two.

@jenacolbourne when those angles are right but not 90° #hockey #hockeymom #rightangles #defyingphysics @lakelandfemaleaapanthers @Vienna ♬ sonido original – INTROS DE SERIES, CARTOONS, TV

The Ice answered back shortly after with a power-play goal of their own to regain the lead.

In the third period, Panthers defenceman Avery Doody wired a wrist shot past the Ice goalie to tie the game at two. Doody’s goal was assisted by “The Bug” and Tessianna “Messi” Shirt.

Late in the third, the Ice scored what proved to be the game-winner.

Once again, the final was 3–2 — this time for the Ice.

Jayvrie Houle turned in another outstanding performance between the pipes for Lakeland.

Up front, there was fierce forechecking in both games from Kaleigha “Mama” Dion, Markelle “Jazzy” Whitford-Bull, Aubrey Scanie, Brenna “Mighty Mouse” Brunet and Aspen “Machine Gun Kelly,” consistently creating turnovers and pressure.

On the back end, defencemen Maja ‘Pinchy’ Pinch and Baylee Brunet played solid games, pinching well and holding the blue line.

Despite coming up just short on the scoreboard, the Panthers showed they can skate with the top teams in the league — and they’re right back in the fight.