Oct 21, 2018 | Trevor Russwurm | 153 views
Atom Girls Capture Mitchell Tournament Championship
Backed by the shutout goaltending of Alissa Insley, the Paul Van Gerwen Sun Life Meteor Atom 'C' Girls defeated the Waterloo Ravens by a score of 2-0 in the championship final of the local Mitchell Girls Hockey Tournament. Abigayle Van Bakel scored two goals in nine seconds on one shift midway through the opening period to help secure the win, with Alayna McKay drawing an assist on the second marker.
The Atoms opened the tournament on Thursday evening with a 2-1 victory over Huron Heat to avenge an exhibition loss to them earlier in the season. Van Bakel and Ava Harmer scored for the locals, with Harmer drawing an assist on Van Bakel's goal. Macie Russwurm earned the win between the pipes.
Game two was Friday at 3pm vs the West Grey Warriors, with Insley drawing the start in net. After giving up the opening goal early in the first period, the Meteors stormed back with five consecutive goals for an eventual 5-1 win. Harmer led with two goals and an assist, and Tegan Mace also scored a pair. Van Bakel notched the last goal unassisted, and also drew and assist on one of Mace's goals. Single helpers went to Rylee Kipfer and Haileigh Templeman.
The strong start led to a bye right to the semi-final on Sunday morning, once again drawing the West Grey Warriors for an opponent. The rematch would prove to be a bit tougher, as West Grey would once again open the scoring early in the first as the puck would squirt loose in the crease and dribble past goaltender Russwurm. Mitchell would answer back five minutes late as defenseman Camryn Medhurst led and end-to-end rush, with a trailing Harmer batting in a rebound for the first goal of her natural hat trick to end the period tied. The Warriors came out strong in the second to take a 3-1 lead, but Harmer would add her second of the game on a breakaway with 48 seconds remaining in the period to cut the deficit to one. Midway through the third, Harmer would tie it on another unassisted breakaway, and Templeman would score the game-winner knocking in a rebound, assisted by Harmer and Insley.
Congrats to all Mitchell teams on a great job representing Mitchell Girls Hockey in your local tournament!