Atom Girls End Season With Loss In Quarter Finals At Provincials, News, Atom Girls C, Girls Hockey, 2018-2019 (Mitchell Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2018-2019 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Apr 07, 2019 | Trevor Russwurm | 1442 views
Atom Girls End Season With Loss In Quarter Finals At Provincials
The Van Gerwen Sun Life Meteor Atom Girls competed in the OWHA Atom 'C' Provincials in Toronto this past weekend, finishing in the top 8 with a quarter-final 2-0 loss to the Russell Castor River Coyotes.  The Coyotes fell to Owen Sound in the Sunday morning semi-final, with Owen Sound going on to meet the TCDMHA Rebels in a 12:45pm final.


The Meteors faced a strong puck-moving and shot-heavy offense, and goaltender Macie Russwurm made save after save in the first period despite being heavily outshot.  The River Coyotes would finally solve Russwurm's spectacular effort early in the second period, as she made the initial save but couldn't get to the rebound on the angle.  A second goal would be added less than two minutes later to make it 2-0.
The locals would continue to battle, never giving up right to the end.  With four minutes remaining in the game, Abigayle Van Bakel drew a tripping call, and Coach K would pull Russwurm for a 6-on-4 advantage but could not get a lucky bounce.  A timeout was called with a minute remaining to rest the troops, but 2-0 would be the final and the River Coyotes were off to the semi-finals the next morning.
The Meteors opened tournament play on Friday morning vs the Kemptville Storm, and scoring offense was quickly on display building a 5-0 lead behind Van Bakel's hat trick.  Camryn Medhurst and Tegan Mace would also score, and assists were recorded by Haileigh Templeman, Zoey Michel, Rylee Kipfer, Alayna McKay, and Van Bakel.  Perhaps letting off the gas a bit, the Meteors gave up two late goals in the final period but hung on for the important opening win.
Friday afternoon was a battle with familiar WOGHL opponent St. Thomas Panthers, and the teams played scoreless hockey through the opening period.  The Panthers struck first late in the second period, and established a 2-0 lead early in the third.  But again the Meteors showed no quit, as Coach K would pull Russwurm for the extra attacker with two minutes left in the game.  Van Bakel would score with 1:14 remaining to pull within one, assisted by Michel.  With Russwurm back between the pipes for the faceoff, she was again summoned to the bench and had just about reached it when Van Bakel would send the bench and fans into a frenzy by scoring her second goal of the game from Ava Harmer with 0:39 remaining on the clock to finish in a crucial 2-2 tie.  At 1-0-1, a win on Saturday afternoon would ensure a berth in the playoff round.
The girls would face the North Bay Ice Boltz at 2:15pm the next day, and the offense immediately went to work building a 5-0 lead.  Harmer (2G 1A), Van Bakel (1G 1A), and Michel (1G 1A) paced the attack.  Medhurst would also find the back of the net to round out the scoring, and additional assists were awarded to Kipfer and Mace.  The Ice Boltz would score their only goal midway through the second frame to ruin Russwurm's shutout bid.
Congratulations to a fine group of young girls on your accomplishments this year.  Your never-quit attitude was truly amazing this weekend.  Thank you to head coach Kristi Michel, assistant coach Bill Kelly, and trainer Erin Matheson for a wonderful season!