Apr 13, 2011 | D. Crosetta | 2777 views
The Saugeen Shores Storm Bantam Girls C team (sponsored by Heather's Poodle Care and Allan's Fireside Grill) recently competed in the OWHA Provincial Championship tournament. Saugeen Shores was one of the sixteen Bantam Girls C teams out of fifty that qualified for this All-Ontario title fight. Storm faced Brockville in their first game of round-robin play. Brockville struck first on a weird deflection that flipped up and over Storm goaltender Bryanna ‘Red” Cobean putting Storm down 1-0. Storm fought back hard and Zoe Mackintosh finally put Storm on the board when her long shot squeaked through a surprised Brockville goalie making it 1-1. Storm turned up their intensity, which immediately paid off when Jocelyn Parker scored on a nice shot from the slot (assisted by Kira Bollen and Sydney Liddle) putting them ahead 2-1. Storm’s Sam Albright added to their lead when she potted her first goal of the tournament in the third period (assisted by Delaney Brown and Rayne Crosetta) giving Storm the 3-1 win.
Storm’s next contest was against Markham, wherein the Saugeen Shores girls dominated from the opening face-off. Parker’s low wrist shot bulged the twine to give Storm a 1-0 lead (assisted by Brown and Albright). Bollen made it 2-0 when her shot from the point found the back of the net (assisted by Crosetta and Mackintosh). The possibly over-confident Storm team let-up early in the third period, and Markham took advantage with a garbage goal cutting their lead in half. Storm quickly re-grouped and regained their two goal lead when Teila Becker scored on a beautiful backhand shot (assisted by Sabrina Goegan and Parker). The game ended with Storm winning 3-1.
Storm played their regional rivals Markdale in the final game of round-robin play. Storm ran into penalty trouble and played most of the first two periods short-handed but was able to hold Markdale off the scoresheet. On a rare even-strength shift, Albright opened the scoring by banging in a loose puck to give Storm a 1-0 lead near the end of the second period. The lead was short-lived as Markdale tied it up midway thru the third period on a breakaway. Storm generated some good scoring chances in the final minutes of the game, but the contest ended in a 1-1 tie. Storm’s round-robin record of two wins and a tie qualified the team for the quarter-final round.
The unlucky team to face the confident Storm team in the quarter-finals was St.Clair. Storm had an anxious start when they found themselves short-handed only four seconds into the game. Storm was able to kill off the penalty and then quickly went on the offensive. Becker put Storm ahead 1-0 with a hard wrist-shot from the high slot (assisted by Brown and Molly Halpin). While short-handed, Brown displayed her shooting abilities when she wired a shot under the crossbar making it 2-0 Storm (assisted by Emma DeBoer and Bollen). Goalie Cobean kept her shut-out alive giving Storm the 2-0 win and a place in the semi-final game.
Storm’s opponent for the semi-final game was a solid Lambeth team. Both teams played strong, but were unable to register any goals in the first two periods. However, early in the third, Lambeth was finally able to break the 0-0 tie by scoring on a screened shot from the slot. This did not deter the resilient Storm team which continued to apply pressure. With only four minutes left in the game, Storm’s Sam Harvie fed the puck to a wide open Albright who showed a tremendous amount of patience, waited for the goalie to go down, and then roofed it to tie the game up 1-1. Storm carried the play the rest of the game but was unable to score, and the game went into sudden-death overtime. Storm sustained their pressure into the overtime period, until Brown passed the puck to Goegan who blasted a shot past the Lambeth goalie to win the game. The 2-1 overtime win gave the Storm team a berth in the gold medal game.
The Provincial gold medal game was Saugeen Shores Storm versus a powerhouse Parkhill team (which had breezed through their previous tournament games). But the Storm team was not to be intimidated, and they put Parkhill on their heels from the get-go. Storm’s defense prevented any quality scoring chances by Parkhill, but unfortunately Storm’s incessant offensive assault was equally obstructed by a red-hot Parkhill goalie. After three periods of play, the score remained 0-0 and sudden-death overtime was needed to determine the winner. Storm continued their strong play in overtime but was still unable to solve the Parkhill goalie, and a second overtime period was required. Though Storm had the upper hand throughout the entire game, it was Parkhill that took advantage of a rare scoring opportunity early in double overtime and sniped a bullet shot to the top hand corner past Storm goalie Cobean to win the game 1-0. The disappointment of the loss on the Storm player’s face was evident, but they put on brave faces as they accepted their silver medals.
The Saugeen Shores Storm Bantam Girls C team finished the season with an outstanding winning record of 41-9-5. The Storm team had many great accomplishments throughout the year which included receiving bronze and gold medals at regional tournaments, winning the WOAA Championship title, and becoming OWHA Provincial Silver Medalists. The entire team staff (Head Coach Dino Crosetta, Assistant Coach James Mackintosh, Trainer Rona Cobean, Assistant Trainer Sheila Liddle, Manager Lesley Parker, and Goalie Coach Wayne Albright) and all the supportive fans are very proud of the girls and congratulate the Bantam Girls C team on a tremendous season.