Congratulations to the SunLife Atom Girls on your hard
fought battle in your home and away league playoff series, to earn the right to
play for the big trophy and the Championship title.
Our girls ended their playoff series in 2nd place
with a record of 3 wins and 3 losses.
Our Meteor girls started off strong with 2 wins in the first week of playoffs against the Sarnia Sting but fell into a bit of a slump in their next 3 games with losses coming from Lambeth (5-0 and 5-1) and South Huron this past Tuesday night to make our final game, the following night to be the deciding factor to who moves on between us or rivals South Huron.
Brooklyn Gethke was our loan goal scorer in our series versus Lambeth. Erica Pletch and Emma French earned the assists on the goal.
On Tuesday night, game 5 of this playoff series on our home turf against rivals South Huron could go either way as we have had many meetings during the season and these games always seem to be evenly matched. With confidence over flowing from our girls and the Sabres just as confidence to prove they were the better team this would set the tone for an amazing game!
As the scoreboard was set, ice surface cleaned and ready to be marked up, both teams lined up at centre for the puck to drop and to start the show. Both teams were aggressive right from the face off with the puck being sent end to end and shots taken at each goalie but South Huron would get the go ahead goal with just less than 5 minutes left in the opening period. After a little chat from our coaches and a cheer from the girls, second period play was ready to start. Our spunky Meteors knew what they needed to do to get that equalizer and keep the momentum in our hands. Again during this period, each team took numerous attempts at the goalies but those little “mighty mites” goalies showed their stuff! With Mitchell getting a few more chances, dominating the play in the Sabres end and a scramble of jerseys converging on their net, Emma French with help from line mates Erica Pletch and Brett Gethke got that little black disk tucked neatly behind their goalie to tie the game. The crowd roared, way to go girls and the buzzer soon ended that period with the score at a dead lock of 1. With 12 minutes left in this barn burner and a winner left to be crowned, play started again. Each team held the pressure on and intensity of play increased as nobody was willing to budge. As time winded down and the stakes getting higher a flurry of players in front of our net screened our goalies view and gave South Huron the chance they needed to take a shot from the point to score and the lead with just minutes to spare. All attempts were made by us to tie up the game but we just didn’t have the steam to get it done and fell short 2-1 against the Sabres.
The girls were disappointed but knew they had another chance at them and show what Meteor power is all about the next night on their rink to move on to the championship series.
Wednesday night, final game of our playoffs was here, the girls were pumped, excited and ready to play as the dressing room was loud! As the girls made their way on the ice for warm-ups and a few serious stare downs at the Sabres’ end, the cheerleading squad took their place for this finale to start. Puck was dropped and our Meteors took quick puck possession and didn’t look back after that. These girls were on fire as everyone stepped up their game as we needed to prove we were the better team.
First period ended in a dead lock of 0 as we just couldn’t seem to solve that South Huron goalie as she was making the saves she needed to keep her team in the game despite chance after chance for us.
However, second period would be much better to us as Jaimie Badley would open the scoring with a nice little tap in just under the goalie’s pad to put the girls on top. Emma French was right there to give her assistance. With the continued grit from wingers Charlee Feltz and Emily Dearing, not letting South Huron have their way and Jaelyn Mienen fighting for her position in front of the net, gave Taya Cornish the chance to take a shot from the point and cushion our lead 2-0. With our girls in the driver seat and total control of the game, 12 minutes was all that was left to seal their fate to move on. Brooklyn Gethke and Erica Pletch pushed their way down the ice many times with the puck always with a couple of South Huron players on them to try and steal it away. Ava Gibbings, Brett Gethke and Meg Schoonderwoerd playing amazing defense by holding that puck in their blue line, allowed Alyssa Edit to add to the lead with Charlee Feltz getting the assist. Score was now 3-0. Makayla Beuerman made a couple of great kick saves and denied them the chance to score. With all the momentum in our favor and the girls just waiting for the clock to run down, Taya Cornish continued taking her shots from the point as this proved to be a lucky spot for her. She would earn the hat trick of the night by scoring 2 more unassisted to seal the deal. The buzzer sounded and the game was done with our marvelous Meteors taking the win 5-0 from South Huron and the right to play for the Championship trophy.
Congratulations again on your continued success this season, you girls have certainly proved you deserve the right to play for the Championship trophy. You are all Champions in our eyes.
Good luck in your final round!