By Beth Douglas
What a weekend! The Giant Tiger/Queens Bar and Grill Midget C girls took part in the Walter Gretzky tournament in Brantford on February 25th to 27th. The Storm girls outplayed every team they came up against. They showed excellent teamwork and comraderie throughout the whole weekend. Their first opponent was Mitchell. The Storm opened...
the scoring in the first with a goal by Natasha Boucher from a cross-ice pass delivered by Rachel Douglas. The next goal came soon after as goalie Mackenzie Bertrand passed the puck to her defenseman, Katrina Zadow who took the puck, skated to the blue line and shot the puck over the goalie’s shoulder. The final goal of the game came in the second, scored by Mackenzie Brown, assisted by Nicole Pineault and Natasha Kippers. Game MVP was awarded to Mackenzie Brown for her end to end play. Final score Saugeen Shores 3, Mitchell 0.
On to game two where the girls met a strong defensive team from Kemptville. This was a fairly uneventful game. The game went back and forth and up and down the ice until Brown put the lone goal in off the back of the Kemptville goalie. Bertrand earned the game MVP award with her second shutout of the tournament. Final score Saugeen Shores 1, Kemptville 0.
The girls wrapped up the round robin against Owen Sound. This was a real nail biter and a tightly fought battle. Neither team scored until two minutes left in the third when an Owen Sound player skated down full blast and put both Bertrand and the puck into the net. Seconds later, Boucher broke away and tried to score but was taken down by an Owen Sound defender. A penalty shot was awarded, but the goalie stood strong. With the seconds dwindling, the Saugeen Shores Storm kept fighting and a beauty of a goal was scored by Boucher, assisted by Kippers with just 46 seconds remaining. Boucher, was not going to be stopped that time and earned a well-deserved MVP. Final score Saugeen Shores 1, Owen Sound 1.
The girls finished the round robin in first place which qualified them for the semis against Mississauga. The girls came out flying Sunday morning. Sarah Thornburn opened the scoring early as she raced down the ice while shorthanded and sent the puck over the goalie's left shoulder. Thornburn scored again soon after off a pass from Brown. Kelly Little scored our next goal with a rocket blast from the blue line. Assisting on that goal were Boucher and Thornburn. Our second shorthanded goal of the game. The final goal of the game once again happened in a short handed situation. The Mississauga defenseman stood behind her net as she waited for her team to regroup. Thornburn sailed down the ice, stripped her of the puck and sent it over the goalie's shoulder. Hats went flying onto the ice.The girls had to show their toughness and grit throughout this hard fought semi final and the toughest of them all was Abi Martin. Thornburn earned the game MVP with her four point game. Final score Saugeen Shores 4, Mississauga 0.
On to finals against Woodstock! The girls really wanted this one and they did what was necessary to get the job done. Bertrand made save after save. The defensive core of Michaela Ferguson, Sabrina Olinskie, Little, and Zadow kept Woodstock to the outside. The strong forechecking of Sara Drake, Nicole Pineault Douglas, and Kippers kept the play in the Woodstock end for much of the game. While Martin cheered on her teammates from the stands, the stacked line of Boucher, Brown and Thornburn provided all the scoring with one goal each. Mackenzie "Stone Wall" Bertrand earned her fourth shutout of the tournament. Boucher earned her second MVP of the tournament after scoring a goal in which she skated through all the Woodstock players making them look like they were standing still. Final score Saugeen Shores 3, Woodstock 0. Champions!