Talk about peaking at the right time of the season. The Wakatipu Wild produced some of their best hockey to charge into the New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League final in Christchurch at the weekend. They were not able to produce a fairytale finish against one of the strongest teams in recent memory but they could be well satisfied with the silver medal. The Wild qualified only third for the playoffs with just two wins, an overtime win and three overtime losses from their 12 games. But they dominated the southern derby in Christchurch, beating the Dunedin Thunder 5-1 in the semifinal, before falling to an 8-2 loss to the dominant Auckland Steel in the final. Auckland, unbeaten all season, claimed the Goulding Cup for the fourth year in row. Wakatipu won the title in 2022 but looked at long odds to be in title contention as they entered the playoffs nine points behind the Thunder and a whopping 24 behind the unbeaten Steel. The semifinal between the southern rivals, who were a combined side known as the Storm before the split in 2022, was scoreless after the first period. Gracie Hellmrich scored on the power play deep into the second period, and Kelli Burstein made it 2-0 to the Wild just five seconds later. Manuella Sanches Pedrosa pulled one back for the Thunder just 37 seconds after that, setting up a potentially thrilling final period. Burstein took over for the Wild. She scored an unassisted goal, completed her hat-trick with a penalty shot, and capped victory with a power play goal in the final five minutes. Wakatipu goaltender Zadia Paulse made 29 saves. The Auckland Steel, who beat the Canterbury Inferno 4-0 in the other semifinal, made a stunning start to the final with a Helen Murray goal after just 41 seconds. When Hannah Shields and Jasmine Horner-Pascoe scored to make it 3-0 to the Steel, it shaped as a long night for the Wild. Burstein continued her scoring run with an unassisted goal before the Steel netted twice more in the first period. A tight second spell featured Horner-Pascoe and Wakatipu import Jamie Harris trading goals, before the Steel scored twice late in the third to seal victory. [Missing Credit]Dunedin Thunder players celebrate their bronze medal in the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League. Photo: NZWIHL The Thunder beat the Inferno 2-1 in overtime in the bronze medal game. After a scoreless first period, Jacinta Hoglund scored on the power play to give the Thunder the lead. Nerhys Gordon equalised near the start of the third period but there was no more scoring in regular time. Deep into overtime, Jessica Ryall scored the winner for the Thunder on the assist from Caitlin Hollyer. Auckland star Katya Blong finished the leading scorer in the NZWIHL with 39 points (21 goals, 18 assists). Burstein had 20 points (15 goals, five assists) for the Wild, and Abbey Heale led the Thunder with 15 points (nine goals, six assists). The Wild also marked the efforts of popular veteran Bobbie Weeks for reaching 50 games in the league.
