The Weyburn Southern Range Gold Wings dropped another game at home Sunday afternoon, this time an 8-2 decision to the Battlefords Sharks. It was another loss for a very young team that in many respects, is still learning the game at the midget level.

Things started out strong for the Gold Wings, when Sierra Meroniuk scored in the first period. The goal, her first as a Gold Wing, came when she lifted a rebound off a point shot from Taylor Rooney over the outstretched pad of Sharks goalie Chantel Weller just 1:40 into the period. Penalty trouble would come back to bite the Gold Wings, though, as the Sharks treated the man advantage as though they smelled blood in the water.

Just four minutes after the Gold Wings got on the board, the Sharks struck. Maya Tupper beat rookie Gold Wings netminder Myah Battersby on the powerplay. The 14-year-old goalie for the Gold Wings would continue to be in tough for the rest of the game. With just over a minute to play in the period, the Battlefords scored their second power play goal of the game, this time from Ashlee Wolfe.

The second period would see a flurry of activity in the opening nine minutes, with the two teams combining for four goals. Unfortunately for the Gold Wings, three of them were from the Sharks. Ensley Fendelet, Wolfe and Kyra Ledoux scored, while Brooklyn Chicoine scored her second goal of the season, unassisted, when she picked up the puck behind the Sharks net, and stuffed it past Weller on the wrap-around.

From that point, the goaltenders from both teams stepped up, and it was tough for either team to get any offense going, until the late stages of the third period. With just over a minute and a half left, Keara Amson scored for the Sharks on the power play. Maya Tupper would add one more goal, and with just six seconds remaining, Madison Sansom would score another power play goal.

The Sharks went 4-for-10 with the man-advantage in the game Sunday. The Gold Wings were also given ten power play opportunities, but weren’t able to get anything past Weller. The Sharks also did a good job of limited the shots to the outside perimeter, and giving Weller a clean line of sight. The Gold Wings still had plenty of quality scoring opportunities throughout the game, though. They outshot the Sharks 46-31, and had many shots on goal stay out of the net courtesy of a stick of skate in the right place at the right time.

The Gold Wings will be off now until the 20th, when they host the Melville Prairie Fire. Melville is currently in second in the SFMAAAHL with 20 points. The game will be played at Crescent Point Place.