U13 Meteor Girls take home Silver Medal During Provincial finals.
The Ace
Garden Centre U13C Meteor Girls placed 2nd across Ontario during the
annual Provincial Championships in Toronto. The Girls were in a division with
15 other teams who qualified for the tournament from across the province.
Game one
was against a somewhat familiar opponent (Mount Forest Rams) who they met in
Tournament play earlier in the season. The Meteors had a healthy 4-0 victory over the Rams with goals coming from Ella Sills, Bree Carnachan, Danica Voros and Callie
Van Loon. Assists went to Leah Sills, Phoebe Wood (2), Reina Nevin.
Game 2 proved
to be more difficult against the Hearst Ice Cats. The Meteors battled hard but were
no match for the Ice Cats Offence as the Girls took a 3-0 loss.
With a win
or tie required to advance to the quarter finals, The girls pressed hard
against the Owen Sound Ice Hawks. Scoring was fast and furious in at the start
of the first period with the Meteors taking a 2-0 lead in the first two shifts.
Wood, assisted by Kinslee Horan and Leah Sills from Nevin. Pressure persisted
and another goal was netted by the Meteors Voros, assisted by Nevin. Strong
team play persisted throughout the rest of the game for the Meteors to win 3-0
and advance to the Quarter finals later that afternoon.
In the
Quarters, The Meteors faced the St. Thomas Panthers, Two goals were recorded by
the U13 Meteor girls in the first period. One from Voros, assisted by Martyna
Hartwig and Horan. Phoebe Wood grabbed the second, assisted by Voros. Pressure continued in the second period and a goal scored by
Reina Nevin from Felicity Parish and Hartwig sealed the 3-0 victory. Sending
the Meteors to the Semi-finals against a strong Hearst Ice Cats team.
The Semi-Final
re-match against the Ice Cats went far better for the Meteors this time. Both
Teams were hungry to play in the finals, and it was apparent. After 3 regulation
periods the score was locked at 0, and the game was headed into not one, not
two but 3 Overtime Periods. Both Teams regrouped during a flood between the 2nd
and third OT period and came out prepared to win. The Meteors came out ahead with 2 minutes remaining in the 3rd OT period on a
goalmouth scramble. Carnachan was awarded the 1-0 game winner, with Leah Sills
and Nevin assisting. The Meteor fans erupted, all but silencing the opposing
teams train horn and cowbells. The Meteors were headed to the Finals.
In the
Finals, The Ace Garden Centre U13 Meteor Girls faced off against a strong Ft.
Frances Leafs team. The Leafs got on the board in the first period with a very strong
shot. After an early time-out, the Meteors settled down and strong battles continued
on both sides throughout the rest of the game. With the Period nearing an end,
the coaches pulled Ally Van Bakel for more pressure with an extra attacker. The
plan worked and were rewarded with a goal by Voros, assisted by Carnachan. The
game would head into Overtime. A couple minutes into OT, the Leafs were able to
net the game winner to take the victory, with the Meteors earning the Silver Medal.
Ally
Van Bakel played very well throughout the tournament stopping many difficult
shots and keeping her team in all the games. She recorded 4 shutouts across six games and only allowed 4
total across the weekend.
All-in all,
a fantastic weekend of Hockey and comradery. The Girls played very well as a
team the entire weekend, were respectful and sportsmanlike. The town of
Mitchell was well represented by this great group of Athletes.
The tears
flowed after the game, not for losing the Gold Medal, but for losing their
Coaches, Mentors, and Friends as it was known heading in, that this was the
coaches’ last year with the U13 Girls. Many thanks to Cori O’Connell, Brooke
Maclean, Dani Schoonderwoerd and Morgan Rolfe for volunteering their time, energy and knowledge into helping
our Girls grow as young women, players and teammates. On behalf of all the
parents and players, Thank you. We wish you all the best for your futures. Perhaps
we’ll see you watching from the other side of the ice.
Sidenote.
The Girls are going to want to see pictures of your soon to be new pet Turtle “Meteor”. I hear they are low maintenance.