The JP Uniac Insurance Atom Girls HL opened their season with a pair of strong performances.
In the season opener on Thursday Oct 5, the Atom Girls hosted Ilderton C in Mitchell. The girls skated well and competed all night against a strong visiting team. The Meteors welcomed back blueliner Rylee Kipfer from injury making her debut for the team with strong defensive play. Both teams battled early but the goalies stood tall keeping the game scoreless after the first period. It would remain scoreless until late in the second when the visitors were finally able to beat Mitchell’s Ally Vogels to take the lead. The locals continued to work, having several good scoring chances, however they were unable to beat the visiting goalie. Ilderton added 2 late third period goals to seal the 3-0 win.
Tuesday night in Brussells the JP Uniac Insurance Atom HL Girl faced off against their neighbouring rivals the Huron Heat. Mitchell set the tone early with a pair of first period goals. On the first powerplay of the game, the scoring opened with a long rush from blueliner Hayden Uniac, who beat several Heat players and put a hard shot on net. Tegan Mace was ready at the top of the crease to bang in the rebound. Mitchell continued to forecheck and as a result earned a 2-0 lead when Andrea Kelly beat the Heat goalie, assisted by Rachel Haefling.
The second period was a back and forth affair with both teams exchanging chances. In the last minute of the second the Heat snuck a goal past netminder Vogels to cut the lead to 2-1. Early in the third the Heat would strike again tying the game. The remainder of the game continued to be evenly matched. The Mitchell girls would kill off a late penalty in the last few minutes of the game to secure the tie. Overall another strong team effort for the Atom HL girls early in the 2017-18 season.