Apr 16, 2012 | Sean Fowler | 1834 views
Atom Girls Make it to Quarter Finals in OWHA Provincial Final Tournament
The Saugeen Shores Storm Atom C Girls
(sponsored by Rintoul’s Pool & Hot Tub and Remax Land Exchange Ltd.) did
the SSMHA and Saugeen Shores proud this past weekend in the 2012 OWHA
Provincial Finals, held in Toronto April 13-15.
By earning a quarter-final berth in the annual tournament, the girls can
proudly say they rank among the top teams in the province.
The round robin format had the Storm facing off against the Kanata Rangers, the Ennismore Eagles and the Stoney Creek Sabres.
The first game against Kanata took place early on Friday morning and, unfortunately, the early start seemed to take its toll on the girls. The Storm dropped a 3-1 decision in game one, which meant they could not afford to lose another.
The balanced offensive firepower that the Storm had prided themselves on all season was evident in game two, as seven players combined for a 6 goal, 11 point barrage to defeat Ennismore 6-0. Storm netminder Marley Scott earned her fifth shutout of the season with the win, but she wasn’t through just yet.
Due to their strong offensive performance against Ennismore, the Storm entered the final game of the round robin in a good place, needing to secure only a tie to advance to the quarter-finals. Their final round robin opponent, Stoney Creek, knew it was a must win for them and it showed. The Sabres were a fast team and their speedy wingers kept the Storm defence on their toes. In the end however, it was Storm go-to centre Sasha Morano who managed to score twice on the Sabres goalie putting the Storm up 2-0 at the end of the second. Scott held on for her second shutout of the tournament and a place in the quarter finals.
The Storm faced the Gloucester-Cumberland Stars in the Quarter Final game which turned out to be an emotional rollercoaster that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Despite fairly even play and puck possession which lead to a scoreless first period, the Stars managed to get out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the second. Throughout the third period, the Storm had at least four solid scoring chances turned away by the Stars goalie, who played a stellar game.
Then, with only 43 seconds left in the third and with goaltender Scott on the bench in favour of the extra attacker, Storm captain Lauren MacDonald scored on a beautiful feed from linemate Jamie Anne Miller to put Saugeen Shores within one. The odds were stacked against them, but the gutsy Storm girls weren’t ready to hang up their skates.
On the resulting faceoff, the Storm gained possession and charged into the Stars zone. With all six Saugeen Shores attackers buzzing the net, the puck squirted through the Stars goalie and into the back of the net with a mere 15 seconds to play. It appeared that the Storm had managed to do the unthinkable and come back to tie the game in the last minute, but alas it wasn’t the case. As the Storm players and fans were frantically celebrating the referee was frantically waving his arms signalling “no goal”. There was no whistle on the play, and the puck had clearly crossed the line, but, as the referee explained to the Storm coaching staff, he “intended to blow his whistle”, although he never managed to get it to his mouth. In an unbelievable turn of events, the Storm girls had their miraculous comeback, and OWHA Provincial hopes dashed by an obscure technicality known informally as the “intent to blow” rule. The goal was disallowed, and the Stars moved on with a 2-1 win.
Despite the stinging way in which their season ended, players, team staff and parents alike were thrilled about the opportunity to represent Saugeen Shores in the high profile tournament and are looking forward to a return visit next year.
A great big thanks goes out to the team staff: Paul Martin, Bruce Ribey, Sheldon Janes, Tracy Martin and Colleen Fowler as well as all of the devoted parents who made this another great year!!