Bantam C Girls Win Bronze at Provincials
The Remax Land Exchange and Midsummer’s Café Bantam C Girls Win Bronze at
Provincials written by Wayne Albright
Sixteen eager players entered the final Provincial
tournament in Brampton and returned home to Saugeen Shores a winning team!
Fierce determination, supportive attitudes and a common goal
to be champions drove the team through six nerve-racking, entertaining games.
The round robin format included 4 divisions of 4 teams,
sixteen teams in total competing for the same prizes.
The first round robin game had us competing against the Grand River Mustangs. The Mustangs scored first, only to be matched by a crash the net play by Nicole Pineault (assisted by Kira Bollen and Sabrina Goegan). Back and forth play in the third period resulted in a wrist shot beating the goalie glove side by Teila Becker, set up by Samantha Harvie and Maddie McNeill. The girls tried to fend off the stampeding Mustangs but a late breakaway goal resulted in a tie game.
The next round robin game had the girls up against a tough Ridgetown Dresden Rebels Team (Silver Medalist of the tournament). The girls found themselves two goals down in the second before Mckenzie Brown solved the goalie puzzle with a one timer 5-hole. The Rebels proved too much for our girls and we fell 4-1.
The last round robin game had us up against the Gloucester- Cumberland Stars. The girls knew this was a must win situation and rose to the occasion. An even matched game found an early lead by a 5-hole shot from Delaney Brown, followed by a Star tying goal putting all watching on the edge of their seats. This was quickly responded with by a 2 on1 play resulting in a backhand 5-hole goal by M. Brown. Close plays by the Stars were turned away by a tough defense, a wall like goalie and back-checking forwards. A sigh of relief was felt all around when Sabrina Olinskie broke down the wing and netted a rebound for a 3-1 win.
This put the girls at one win, one tie and one loss. This proved to be enough to get to the playoffs. Eight teams remained fighting for the prizes.
The first playoff game had us against the Timmins Blue Heron Hi-Flyers. The Storm exploded out of the gate catching the Flyers by surprise. A quick wrist shot by D. Brown had the girls up six seconds into the game! This was quickly followed by a breakaway wrist shot goal by the same D. Brown, beating the goalie blocker side and then yet another breakaway goal by M. Brown, putting the girls up by three in the first period. A late goal in the second and an early goal in the third by the Flyers put some life back into the opposing team. This was spoiled by a pressing “hound” line and a backhand rebound shot by Jocelyn Parker assisted by Emily Cruchley and Becker. The Girls were now in the final four, off to the medal round!
The medal determination game had us against our arch rivals the TCDMHA Rebels! This early morning game resulted in a 4-0 loss to the Gold Medal winning Chatsworth team. Off to the Bronze medal game against the Zorra Fuzion team. This evenly matched game found a first period breakaway goal by D. Brown putting the underdog Storm team up 1-0. Solid heads up defensive positioning by Samantha Albright and Sydney Liddle, kept the Fusion under control while, aggressive fore checking by forwards Rayne Crosetta and Sydney Morton kept the puck in the offensive end. First year goaltender Bryanna Cobean earned the shut-out (her 12th of the year) to seal the victory and Bronze Medal!
Smiles and glossy eyes could be seen on the coaching staff and parents as the girls received their Bronze medals one by one. The coaching staff and parents are extremely proud of all the girls and thank all for a wonderful year. Great job of representing Saugeen Shores!
