Feb 21, 2011 | D. Crosetta | 1330 views
The Saugeen Shores Storm Bantam Girls C team (sponsored by Heather's Poodle Care and Allan's Fireside Grill) captured first place of regular season play by beating their nemesis Georgian Shores Lightning.
Storm was expecting a close tight-checking game against this solid Georgian Shores squad and knew scoring the first goal was crucial. Storm’s Captain Delaney Brown didn’t disappoint when she took a nice feed from Zoe Mackintosh and fired a bullet shot to the top corner of the net to open the scoring in the first period to give Storm a 1-0 lead. The celebration was short-lived as Georgian Shores quickly tied it back up by jamming the puck past an unsuspecting Storm goalie Bryanna ‘Red’ Cobean after a bad bounce off the backboards. But the ever resilient Storm team kept pressing, and was finally able to regain the lead before the end of the second period when Rayne Crosetta passed to a wide open Sam Harvie who bulged the twine. The Georgian Shores team came out flying in the third period, but Storm’s reliable defensive core made up of Emma DeBoer, Kira Bollen, Sydney Liddle, and Molly Halpin were instrumental in holding the slim one goal lead. The game ended with Storm winning 2-1, placing them in first place with the most wins in their league. The Bantam Girls C team finished the regular season with an outstanding winning record of 28-7-3 (including 19 shutouts), and was brimming with confidence as they began their OWHA Provincial playdown journey.
The Bantam Girls C team’s first playdown game was against Tiverton. Storm had many chances early in the game but was unable to solve the Tiverton goalie and found themselves in a scoreless tie after the first period. Storm definitely found their stride in the second period, as the fans witnessed an offensive outburst from the line of Crosetta, Mackintosh, and Sabrina Goegan, which combined for a total of 17 points in the game. Crosetta scored the first and second goals of the game early in the second period, which opened the floodgates as the Storm scored ten unanswered goals to win 10-0. Storm’s goal scorers were Crosetta (4), Mackintosh (3), with single tallies from Goegan, Brown, and Jocelyn Parker. Also contributing on the scoresheet with assists were Crosetta (3), Mackintosh (3), Goegan (3), Halpin (2), Brown, and Harvie.
The opponent for Storm’s next playdown game was Mildmay. Storm recognized that the Mildmay team was their toughest opponent in round 1, and were a little nervous because they were missing many players due to injuries etc. and weren’t even able to ice two complete lines. The game started with both teams playing very defensive and neither team allowed any goals in the first period. However, Storm’s first goal by Mackintosh from Crosetta once again broke the game wide open as the Storm scored five unanswered goals. Parker notched the next Storm goal assisted by Harvie, Mackintosh then got her second goal of the game from Sam Albright and Brown, Teila Becker scored on a nice pass out front from Harvie, and Crosetta’s goal assisted by Mackintosh closed out the scoring barrage. The final winning score of 5-0 awarded Storm’s goalie Cobean another shutout.
The Bantam C girls then traveled to Normanby to play their final round 1 playdown game. The Storm team scored early and they scored often. The spectators in the stands were privileged to watch a goal scoring exhibition put on by Brown who finished the game with a double hat-trick. Brown’s right winger Crosetta played a key part as she assisted on five of the goals. When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read 8–0 Storm. The goal scorers were Brown (6), with lone goals from Crosetta and Mackintosh. Assisting on the Storm goals were Crosetta (5), Goegan (3), Harvie (2), Mackintosh (2), and Halpin. Yet again, Cobean finished with another shutout, giving her three in a row.
By beating all teams in round 1, the Bantam Girls C team finished in top spot of their pool giving them home-ice advantage for round 2 of the OWHA Provincial playdowns (which begins February 27th against Markdale).