Mar 06, 2012 | Sean Fowler | 1615 views
Atom Girls Take Silver at WOAA Finals
The Saugeen
Shores Storm Atom C Girls (sponsored by Rintoul’s Pool & Hot Tub and Remax
Land Exchange Ltd.) came a step closer to the end of their 2011/12 campaign this past
weekend (Mar 3-4) with their WOAA year-end tournament held in Normanby / Ayton.
The tournament featured the top six teams in the WOAA Atom Division vying for the right to call themselves WOAA Champs. The Storm’s fourth place regular season finish meant that they had to face the tournament hosts Normanby Wildcats and the Mount Forest Rams on day one.
The first game against Normanby went according to plan with the Storm jumping out to a 2-1 lead early in the second on goals from Sasha Morano and Kiandra Martin (assisted by Lauren MacDonald). Morano’s second of the game, a late third period marker, put the game out of reach for the Wildcats and the Storm went on to win 3-1.
The late afternoon game pitted the Storm against Mount Forest, a team they had yet to lose to this season. Despite the fact that they had never beaten the Storm, the Rams and their coaching staff seemed to exude an air of confidence that had the Storm supporters bewildered. The Mount Forest fans were already planning for their date in the gold medal game, while the Storm players were quietly preparing for the game to come.
The first period of this game ended in a scoreless tie. The Storm didn’t hold back in the second however, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with goals 28 seconds apart from Eve Martin and Sasha Morano. Despite a late second period Mount Forest goal, the Storm held them off in the third and hung on for the win and a spot in the gold medal game. The shocked Mount Forest team would have to settle for the consolation game, a result any house league team would be proud of.
In the gold medal final on Sunday the Storm faced off against the very familiar Kincardine Kinucks, a team they had met five times previously in the season, but had yet to beat. Cautious optimism was the mood in the stands as both teams battled through what was looking like another scoreless opening period. However, with less than a minute to go in the first period Storm captain Lauren MacDonald put the Saugeen Shores team on the board on a nice feed from Kiandra Martin. The Storm fans went crazy.
The Storm carried much of the play throughout the early part of the second period, going up 2-0 on a beautiful goal by Jamie Ann Miller who was planted in front of the net and banged home a perfect pass by Eve Martin. True to form, the hard working Kinucks did not lay down and battled back to tie the game at 2-2 before the end of the second.
Coming into the third period tied 2-2, the Storm were determined and came out battling hard. Even as the Kinucks scored the go ahead goal early in the frame, every Saugeen Shores player fought hard each and every shift.
Lauren MacDonald and Kiandra Martin teamed up again midway through the period to tie the game at 3-3 to breathe some life into the comeback, but unfortunately the Storm could not shut down Kincardine sniper Alyssa Andrews, who completed her third period hat-trick putting the Kinucks up 5-3 and putting the game out of reach for the Storm.
Once again the Storm girls put on an exciting show for the fans and should be very proud of their accomplishments during this successful 2011/12 season. They close out the regular season with a 16W–10L-4T regular season record and second place honours in three of the four tournaments they attended this year.
The girls now look forward to the OWHA Provincial Final Tournament in Toronto where they will face off against teams from as far away as Ottawa, Sarnia and North Bay.
A great big thanks goes out to the team staff: Paul Martin, Bruce Ribey, Sheldon Janes, Tracy Martin and Colleen Fowler. It’s not over yet, but thanks for another great year!!