The Cochrane junior 'A' Chaos kicked off their Alberta Female Junior Hockey League (AJFHL) season with a win and a tie on Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. In the Chaos' first game of the regular season they hosted the Lethbridge Eagles in a game that was never really close. Cochrane got two goals in the first, one in the second and five in the third to put an 8-0 beating on the seemingly helpless Eagles. Newcomer Kari Pedder led the way offensively for the club with two goals and an assist while Brette Matheson, Kyla Kruger, Ryann Altwasser, Elizabeth Wong, Faith Gette and Rebecca Toney also chipped in with goals while both Gette and Toney added assists to tie Pedder for the team lead in points. Returning goaltender Jenna Weseen wasn't tested much but was solid when called upon making 15 saves for the shut out. In Cochrane's second game just under a week later, they faced a stiffer test against the always tough Irma Chargers. Irma scored first in the game and held that lead all the way to the third period before Aspen Kozak found the back of the net to knot the game up at one after she took a pass from defenceman Kyla Kruger and beat the Chargers goaltender. The score would remain the same through the remainder of the third period and into overtime resulting in the game finishing with a score of 1-1. It was a goaltender duo between the two teams as rookie Manon Tetrault came up big for her team stopping 33 of the 34 shots she faced while the Chaos fired a season high 47 shots at the Chargers goaltender. Head coach Derek Loomer said he thought his team played a more rounded game against the Chargers than the Eagles, even if the 8-0 score was more in favour of the Chaos. "I thought our second game was overall better than our first ... even though we got a tie in that one and we had the win in the first one, I think the girls are starting to come together and are starting to get more creative," said Loomer. "I think it's going to be a bit of a slow build this year to continue to get better throughout the season and find that scoring depth that I believe we have on this team." Loomer also said the play of his two goaltenders has been stellar so far this season between veteran Jenna Weseen and rookie Manon Tetrault have stopped 48 of a possible 49 shots through the first two games of the season. "This is Jenna's third year with us and I think she's just getting better every game and each season. She was kind of a back up last year but she's stepped in and shown she's very capable of being the number one, go-to goaltender ... she's been outstanding from our first exhibition game right through until the regular season," Loomer said. "As for Manon, she had reached out to us last year about coming to the spring camp but then suffered a concussion and couldn't come out and sort of late in the game this year, she reached out and said she'd like to give it a try ... she's just a nice, solid goaltender whose fairly young and will have four more seasons with us should she continue to play. I'm looking forward to having a one-two punch in goal again this year." The Chaos will now hit the road this weekend to face off with the Edmonton Wolves on Oct. 13 and a rematch with Irma on Oct. 14.
