The Paul Van Gerwen
Sun Life Meteor Atom Girls got a taste of higher-level teams this past weekend
as they competed in the 23rd Annual Orillia Hawks Girls Hockey Tournament. Having won three consecutive C tournaments
earlier in the season, the decision was made to challenge the girls by entering
the B division when the C division did not have enough entries.
Competition was indeed strong, as the locals dropped their opening game 6-0 on Friday afternoon to a very strong-passing and hard-skating North Simcoe team. Goaltender Macie Russwurm made several key saves to prevent the score from running even higher as the Meteors were simply outmatched and out-sized at both ends of the ice.
The scoreless drought would continue later that evening, falling 3-0 to the Peterborough Ice Kats. The Meteors looked to be outplaying their opponents in the first period, but simply couldn’t find the back of the net. Goaltender Alissa Insley stopped several breakaways to keep the score close.
Looking for a good bounceback effort on Saturday morning, the Meteor girls came out hard with a well-earned 3-0 win over the Ennismore Eagles. Constant forechecking pressure in the offensive zone created several turnovers and icings, leading to the first goal of the tournament early in the first period as Leah Kelly banged in a loose puck in the slot. Tegan Mace would score the second goal, driving the net hard and burying the shot after taking a fantastic pass from Ava Harmer in the corner. Harmer would add an insurance goal on a breakaway. Russwurm earned the shutout between the pipes.
The Meteors would finish the round robin as the 5th seed, earning a berth in the quarter finals on Saturday evening vs Temiskaming. Mitchell would lead 1-0 after one period of play on a goal by Harmer from Emma Groenestege and Grace Bach. Temiskaming would storm back hard in the second and take the lead 2-1 after two, but Abigayle Van Bakel would answer back quickly early in the third, assisted by Alayna McKay and Harmer. Van Bakel would strike again moments later with the game-winning goal from Camryn Medhurst and Addy Wolfe, and the Meteors would hold off a late charge from Temiskaming with the goalie pulled to earn the berth in the semi-finals the next morning.
On Sunday at 8am, the locals once again had to face the strong-skating North Simcoe Capitals. Mitchell would skate with them for a scoreless first period before North Simcoe would score two quick goals in the second and not look back, adding a third insurance goal midway through the third. North Simcoe would go on to capture the championship with a 2-1 victory over the Peterborough Ice Kats.