Nov 09, 2011 | mdemuynck | 669 views
Midget B Girls Team Report - October 2011 by Rob Black
We were very happy to welcome back some familiar faces this year including Coach Mark. Wasting no time we played 3 exhibition games in September. Still a bit rusty in the first one we lost 2-1 to Petrolia. But we stormed back in the next two beating St. Thomas 2-1 and Seaforth 4-0.
Then we were off to Alliston for a pre-season tournament. First up was Orillia. After a scoreless 1st we got on our heels a bit in the 2nd and they scored. Fortunately we answered back when Kelcey Lucio took off an a breakaway and was able to bury it. We had our chances in the 3rd including a breakaway by Katie Rowe with 2 seconds left, but we were forced to settle for a 1-1 tie. Later that day we faced St. Thomas, a team we had beaten in exhibition play. Again we had scoring chances through 2 periods but couldn't manage to cash in. In the 3rd we got into some penalty trouble including a 5 on 3 but we held them off the scoreboard. We were shorthanded in the last minute as well and Natalie Catlos made 2 huge saves as we hung on to post a 0-0 tie. The next day we were up against the unbeaten Manitoulin team. We still had a chance as a win would put us in the final. But again we had trouble scoring and despite 2 glorious chances in the dying seconds we once again ended in a scoreless tie. So our tournament was over. As it turned out just one more goal in ANY of the games would have put us into the final. It was still a fun weekend and gave the girls an opportunity to gel. The following week the season kicked off with a road trip to Ridgetown. We got off to a quick start with Amberley Holman scoring one in the 1st off a rebound. In the 2nd Courtney Van Dyk had a great chance but was robbed by the goalie. We started the 3rd leading 1-0. Then the floodgates opened. Courtney Dani made a nice pass to Katie in the slot for a one-timer. Then Savannah Black carried the puck out from the corner and fired it home. Finally Sam McNeil scored 2 in a row to finish them off 5-0. Where was all that firepower at the tournament? Our next game was back home vs East Kent. Katie opened the scoring in the 1st. In the 2nd Nicole Westgate let go the big slapper from the point and Katie was able to tip it in. Then Courtney Dani cashed in a rebound off a Megan McGill shot to put us up 3-0 after 2. In the 3rd we got back to back penalties and they managed to score off a weird deflection. Katie came to play in this one as she capped off her hat trick. Kelcey wrapped things up by scoring with a wicked wrister as we cruised to a 5-1 win. Next we played an away game (sort of) against our nemesis Ilderton. We got into some penalty trouble in the 1st and Natalie was forced to come up big a few times to keep it scoreless after 1. In the 2nd it was our turn for a couple of powerplays. On the first one Mackenzie Van Hoof ripped a beauty top shelf from the point. The second pp wasn't so good as we couldn't maintain control of the puck and gave up a shorthander, ouch! The 3rd period started badly as they scored in the first minute. Shortly after Melanie Poirier poked in a loose puck off a scramble to tie things up at 2. Unfortunately that was as close as we got as they scored 3 more in the period including an empty-netter to beat us 5-2. After a 11 day break we were back home to host Lambton Shores. Melanie opened the scoring with a blistering shot from the top of the circle. They tied it early in the 2nd, but soon after Amberley gave us the lead back by scoring with a nice backhander. Then Shaina Stubbs put us ahead 3-1 on an electrifying end-to end rush. Megan McGill added one more in the 3rd as we sailed to a 4-1 victory. Our season record at the end of October stands at a respectable 3-1. Keep up the good work girls!