The Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats held on in their playoff opener, but not quite long enough as they eventually suffered a 2-0 loss to the host Weyburn Wings Wednesday.
The Wildcats kept the game scoreless until deep into the third period before allowing goals to Brooke Patron and Jenica Whitrow to fall behind 1-0 in the best-of-five Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoff series.
The sixth seeded Wildcats (8-20-0-0) got off to a good start, outshooting the third seeded Wings (18-8-0-2) 9-7 in a scoreless first period. Weyburn came on in the second period but Wildcats netminder Moriah Andrews stopped all 17 shots she faced to keep the Wildcats in the game. Weyburn outshot the Wildcats 11-7 in the final frame and scored at the 12:40 mark and then scored into an empty net to seal the win.
The game featured only five minor penalties with both teams failing to score on the man-advantage. Andrews finished with 33 saves in the loss as the Wildcats were outshot 35-20 overall.
Game two goes Thursday at 7:45 p.m. at Fairview West Arena in Swift Current.
