As the Westman Wildcats prepare to go to battle in game four, a must-win game to keep their season alive, one of their key contributors feels like after game three, the group is ready to keep the good times rolling.
"I don't think they were expecting us to win that last game," star forward Ivy Perkins said with a confident tone. "They came out a little slow. They gave us the feeling that we can go into this next game and win. We believe in our team and we have a high level of confidence."
As teammates and friends, Perkin says the time together is what she cherishes the most. "I love all the girls on the team. We've had great relationships all year, there's no one I don't like. There's no others I'd rather go through this with. We all want it to keep going and keep spending time together."
Perkin had a sensational season for Westman, she had 29 goals and 30 assists for 59 points in just 39 games, which put her second in league scoring. "I owe a lot of credit to my linemates, Reese Schutte and Lucy Waldner," a humble Perkin says. "They're both very good players and I wouldn't have had the season I had without them. Since last year, I've gotten more confident in myself, just being able to make plays and not overthink about what I'm doing."
With other teams targeting her, Perkin's competitive streak comes out and she loves the challenge. "One thing about me is I absolutely hate losing," she says with a laugh that tries to disguise just how series she is. "I will do anything to win. It's nice being challenged by other teams, it says to me that I must be doing something right.
Balancing playing at her highest level so far and trying to lead her team to a playoff comeback, all while balancing what comes next in her hockey future, Perkin shows incredible mental strength being able to handle it all in stride and she says there is a plan slowly forming. "I haven't made my final decision yet, but I think I'm going to play U-Sport in Western Canada. I'd rather stay close to home and it's a great league, it's very competitive."
Having so many options now and in the future like the PWHL means that Perkin can dream bigger than she ever thought possible. "It's amazing to know there are so many options, it's not just when you're doing AAA or university, you're done hockey. There are professional women hockey players that I can look up to and say I want to be like one day. It's great and it makes me want to work even harder."
While she's looking up to the pro's, Perkin is aware that she and her teammates are building a legacy with the Wildcats that other young female hockey players respect and want to emulate. "It's pretty cool, I'd say," a big smile evident as she takes a brief pause, then continues. "Callie Hilhorst has played on the team for four years, so she knows everything in the game of hockey. She won the championship as a rookie, so I look to her and the younger girls do, too. She sets the bar and we try to live up to it. We want to set that example for other young girls, too."
A special milestone this year for Perkin was hitting the 100 career point plateau. "I've got that puck in my room," the sharpshooter says with a laugh. "It's a big achievement. We always like to keep those pucks, a few girls on my team hit milestones so it's cool to keep those kinds of things."
Game four against the Avros is set for Wednesday in Hartney and Perkin says they have to carry over what made them successful in game three. "We came out hard right away and we'll need to do that again," she says, her tone changed to a serious and competitive. "We caught them flat-footed, we grabbed momentum and never let up. Our goalie Indigo Stone also played really well, maybe one of her best games, so I hope she's able to keep that up."
Puck drop for Wednesday's game is set for 8:00 pm.