Apr 10, 2022 | Trevor Russwurm | 729 views
U15 Girls Silver Medalists at OWHA 'C' Provincials
The Lockhart Funeral Home U15 Meteor Girls capped off an outstanding season by finishing as silver medalists in the OWHA 'C' Provincials in Toronto April 8-10th, dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to champion Mount Forest Rams in the final. The girls, led by head coach Kevin Gettler, assistant coaches Tim Walker & Rob Boville, and trainer Pam Schoonderwoerd, finished the 2021/22 campaign with a record of 42-7-4. Additional accomplishments included the WOGHL U15 'C' Championship, and winning both the Stratford Aces tournament in November and their host Mitchell Meteors tournament in March.
The locals opened tournament play on Friday April 8th with a strong 6-1 win over North Middlesex (Parkhill). Ainsley Berendsen (1G 2A) and Kora Smith (2G) led the scoring for the Meteors. Additional goals were recorded by Brooklyn Boville, Brooklynn French, and Josie Walker.
Game two of the opening day saw a new opponent and eventual champion Mount Forest Rams, and the Meteors were victorious in the first match by a close score of 2-1. Grace Laverty would open the scoring, and Walker would stake the team to a 2-0 lead banging in a rebound on a Smith shot. The Rams would score late in the third period to come within one, and fans were on the edge of their seats when Mitchell drew a penalty with two minutes to go in the game. Goaltender Alissa Insley stole the show and made several key shorthanded stops to preserve the win and move the team to 2-0.
The third and final round robin game featured another unfamiliar opponent in eastern Ontario's Glengarry Highlanders from the Cornwall area. Jade Huygen would score the only goal of the game with a slapshot on a 2-on-none breakaway. Strong defense and another huge game from Insley would finish in a 1-0 win for Mitchell.
Moving to the semi-finals on Saturday evening matched the locals up with familiar foe Wilmot Wolverines, and Mitchell would secure a berth in the Sunday morning finals with a 4-2 win. After giving up a quick opening goal, Berendsen would strip a Wolverine defenseman of the puck in the slot and roof it to tie the game 1-1. Laverty would score the go-ahead goal with a blast from the point early in the second, and the teams would trade two more second period goals including Boville from Teagan Hickling to head to the final period up 3-1. Haileigh Templeman would score an insurance marker early in the third, and Wilmot would add one more late goal to finish up the 4-2 score.
In the championship rematch of the earlier round robin game, Mount Forest Rams goaltending was spectacular as the Meteors would outshoot and hold the advantage in puck possession all game but simply could not score often enough, falling 2-1 to the champion Rams. Mount Forest would score early two minutes in, but Walker from Hickling would tie the game midway through the opening period. The game-winning goal was scored by Mount Forest in a heartbreaking fashion, as a clearing attempt went off a Mitchell stick and into their own net.
A great weekend was had by all, congrats to girls and coaches on the silver medal win!