There was a big two points on the line on Thursday night at the Bert Hunt Arena.

The Moose Jaw Bantam A Mavericks scored four third period goals to pick up a 7-5 win over the Regina Shamrocks and secure their hold on first place in the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League.

The win moved the Mavericks four points clear of the third place Shamrocks for the league’s top spot.

“If we would have lost, we would have been tied with them, so we knew that we had to go hard,” said Mavericks forward Kaitlyn Gilroy, who led Moose Jaw with four goals in the win.

“We’ve played them before and it’s always been tight games.”

The game was tight entering the third period after Regina scored twice in the second period to tie things up at 3-3.

Moose Jaw took the lead back early in the third period with Gilroy’s second of the game, but Regina answered back just 3:50 later to tie things back up.

Gilroy completed her hat trick with 8:05 remaining in the game and it was a big goal as it would put the Mavericks in front for good. Nikita Halyk scored her second of the game with 3:52 to go, giving Moose Jaw some much needed insurance, as Regina responded only 30 seconds later to make it a one-goal game again.

With 1:23 remaining in the game, Gilroy potted her fourth of the night to give the Mavericks some more breathing room and they held on for the two-goal win.

“It was a big win for the girls, they came out ready to play and that’s what we’ve been expecting from them all year, so it was nice to see,” said Mavericks head coach Stephane Gauvin.

“That third period was huge. It was tied, we were going to see what the girls were made of and they responded and played real well.”

The game was a roller coaster. 

Moose Jaw opened the scoring 5:03 into the game when Halyk scored her first of the night, but Regina came right back 1:55 later to tie the game.

Keara Merriman gave the Mavericks a 2-1 lead after one with a late goal in the first period and then Gilroy extended that lead to 3-1 with her first early in the second.

The Shamrocks pushed back with goals from Tamra Knapp and Gracie Christiansen less than a minute apart midway through the second, which sent the game into the third period tied.

“We knew we had to keep pushing and keep battling (going into the third period) because we knew it wasn’t over,” said Gilroy.

Gilroy paced the Mavericks’ attack in the win, while Halyk added two goals and three points, and Merriman picked up a goal and three points.

“(Kaitlyn) is our heart and soul in a lot of ways, she never takes a night off and plays fearlessly and get rewarded,” said Gauvin. “The girls kind of follow her lead, so it was another great game from her, among many.”

The Mavericks peppered the Shamrocks’ net with 49 shots in the game, which allowing just 14 on their goal.

The win improves Moose Jaw’s record to a league-best 17-2-1 on the year, which has them three points clear of the second place Parkland Crushers.

Next action for the Mavericks is this weekend when they host the Regina Renegades on Sunday at noon at the Barkman Arena in Caronport. They then have a rematch with the Shamrocks on Monday at the Bert Hunt, puck drops at 7 p.m.