The Blyth-Brussels atom girls travelled to Newmarket’s Magna Centre for the atom C provincial championships over the weekend.
The first game was against the Temiskaming Shores Puckhounds on Friday morning. The girls found themselves down a goal less than 2 minutes into the game. Delayna Smith would answer back with a goal to tie the score a minute later. The Puckhounds took the lead again at the midway point of the second period. Once more Smith would answer back less than a minute later. There was numerous chances at both ends of the ice the rest of the game and Julia Beaven played extremely well in net to keep the game tied. With 3 minutes to go in the game, a penalty was called and our girls would be called upon to kill it off. In the last seconds of the penalty the Puckhounds had tremendous pressure and the puck was pulled off the line several times by Beaven and the weary defenders,but there was one too many bounces and finally it went across the line with 2 seconds left on the penalty. The team could not get the equalizer and suffered an opening heartbreaking loss.
Next up was a Friday afternoon match with the Belleville Bearcats, that was a must win in a three game round robin format tournament. Still feeling the effects of the morning loss, the girls found themselves down 3-0 after 13 minutes of play on 3 unassisted goals by the Belleville captain. The girls showed their determination and a never quit attitude. With a Bearcat in the penalty box and a face-off in the offensive zone, Sydney Wightman won the face-off and got the puck to the net where line mate Sydney Michie slammed it home to get the team on the board. Early in the third period Samantha Kerr was able to set up Smith to pull the team to within 1. Game on. The girls would apply lots of pressure and another power play opportunity came with 3 minutes on the clock. The team would apply all kinds of pressure , but with a minute to go the Belleville Captain was able to get by the pinching defense and iced the game on the ensuing breakaway. Final score 4-2. Another disappointing loss.
The final round robin game was a chance to end the year on a positive note and the opposition was the Orangeville Tigers. The team got off to a much better start in this game. Morgan Howson broke into the Tigers end in the second minute of the game and delivered a perfect pass to the front of the net and Wightman made no mistake in getting it past the goaltender. The Tigers got on the board late in the second period. Less than a minute later, Howson got a loose puck again and this time set up Smith for a goal. The Tigers would again tie the score early in the third period. It looked like the game might end in a tie, but with a minute and 18 seconds left Smith grabbed a loose puck and weaved through 3 defenders and fired a hard shot that hit the inside of the post and into the net. To put the game out of reach and with the Tiger goalie pulled, Wightman dug the puck out of the corner and passed it to Kerr. With the Orangeville defense guarding the front of the net, Kerr put the puck in the top of the net to avoid the sticks and legs and put the finish on a 4 -2 victory. Good job girls.
It was a very good way to the end the season and the parents were very proud of your effort over the weekend. The results were not what the team had expected, but the games were close and exciting and that is all that you can hope for at this time of year. A special thank you goes out for a season of hard work to the coaching staff of Bruce Higgins, Mike Kerr and Alison Wightman.
The other members of the team are Shelby Higgins, Brookelyn Johnston, Alexandra Martin, Sarah Mitchell, Sarah Strome, Jasmine Vader, Brittany Walden and Morgan Willie.
