Midget B Girls Team Report – Feb 2012 by Rob Black, News, Midget B Girls, U18, 2011-2012 (Mt Brydges Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2011-2012 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 09, 2012 | mdemuynck | 2449 views
Midget B Girls Team Report – Feb 2012 by Rob Black
February began with the International Silverstick tournament in Sarnia. Our first game was against Milverton. After a scoreless 1st we started the 2nd shorthanded. We killed off the penalty and began to generate momentum. Nearing the end of the period Nicole Westgate took a slapshot from the point and Melanie Poirier was there to bang in the rebound to put us up 1-0. We generated some chances in the 3rd but no more goals. Our 1-0 lead held up for the win and a good start to the tournament.

Later that same day we faced Caledon. They actually scored first in this one but we roared back. First Savannah Black went top shelf to tie things up before the end of the period. In the 2nd the floodgates opened. Sam McNeil scored on a point shot, Courtney Van Dyk cashed in a rebound, and Kelcey Lucio scored 2 to put us ahead 5-1 by the end of the 2nd. In the 3rd Savannah scored her second and Kelcey completed her hat trick as we romped to a 7-2 victory. The next day we played Grey Highlands. We were all over them early and we actually scored but the ref waved it off. No matter as a little later in the period Courtney Van Dyk’s wraparound did count and we led 1-0 after 1. The 2nd saw no goals but lots of penalties for both teams. Early in the 3rd Mackenzie Van Hoof made a nice defensive play stopping a 2 on 1. With 2 minutes left Kelcey’s spinaround shot from the slot iced it as we won 2-0 qualifying us for the quarter finals. This was against our nemesis Lucan. It didn’t start great as they scored in the first minute. But we answered right back as Courtney Van Dyk was able to jam one home off a scramble. In the 2nd Natalie Catlos made some terrific saves on the PK as we maintained the 1-1 tie going into the 3rd. Midway through the period Courtney Dani had a breakaway chance but just missed. With just over 2 minutes left we were given a penalty. We managed to kill it off and force overtime. This was a nailbiter with chances at both ends. Then with only 5 ticks on the clock Kaitie Rowe broke down the wing, beat the defence and fired it home to give us the win in thrilling fashion! This set up the semifinal vs Chatsworth the next morning. Nat was her usual self stopping everything in the 1st as we ended up tied at zeros after 1. In the 2nd Sam’s slap shot rebounded to Taylor McTaggart who snapped it in giving us a 1-0 lead after 2. Nat’s stellar goaltending continued in the 3rd including a monster save off a 2 on none. But a giveaway in our end resulted in them getting a chance and they tied it up. Then we were given a ridiculous delay of game penalty for freezing the puck on the boards, which resulted in them scoring on the pp. Now down 2-1 we pulled our goalie with a couple of minutes left. Unfortunately they scored an empty netter to go up 3-1. The last minute was a mad flurry in front of their net. Amberley Holman did score one but that was all we could muster as well fell 3-2. So we didn’t make the final which was too bad, but we played a heck of a tournament and should feel proud of our efforts. Back on the home front we were starting OWHA playdowns. The first one was against our familiar foe from Lucan. They were out for revenge and got it. Not a great start as we fell behind early and were down 2-0 after 1. The 2nd wasn’t any better as we gave up another. We just didn’t seem to have any intensity in this one. In the 3rd Amberley’s long range wrister found its way in but it wasn’t enough as we lost 3-1. Our next playdown was in Parkhill. A much better effort in this one, as we jumped on the board early when Nicole’s point shot was deflected by Courtney Dani in the 1st. In the 2nd on a pp Nicole’s slapper from the slot whistled by the goalie to put us up by 2. Parkhill got one back before the end of the period making it 2-1 after 2. We got on our heels a bit to start the 3rd but Nat came up with a couple of huge saves to keep us in front. Then Sam carried the puck in from centre, made a few moves and buried a sweet low shot. Amberley added another with a nice backhander as we polished them off 4-1. Our 3rd playdown game was vs Lambeth. They scored early within the first 2 minutes of the game. But shortly after we got a pp and Amberley tied things up. After a scoreless 2nd we began the 3rd knotted at ones. Then Courtney Dani carried the puck behind their net and made a nice pass to Taylor in front who fired it home. Shortly after Nicole’s point shot was tipped in by Kelcey to put us ahead 3-1. Then the refs got involved giving us back to back penalties. The did manage to score on one of them, but that was all she wrote as we held on to win 3-2! This put us into round 2 of the OWHA playdowns vs Tillsonburg. Before we started that series we played Lambeth again in a regular playoff game. We got into some penalty trouble in the 1st but we held them off the scoreboard. Shaina Stubbs made a great defensive play to foil a breakaway and keep the score tied at 0. Early in the 2nd they did manage to score. Shortly after Savannah’s backhander rebounded off the goalie’s blocker and Katie was there to smack it out of the air and in. Then we got our pp going and scored twice. First Courtney Dani wired as wrister from the slot, and then Katie fed Kelcey for a beauty one-timer to put us ahead 3-1 after 2. Nat made a sensational point blank save early in the 3rd preserving our lead. Then things got interesting when they scored with 3 minutes left. Things got even more interesting when we got a penalty with 1:30 on the clock, but we held on to win 3-2. Next we began our Round 2 playdown series in Tillsonburg. We came out a little flat in Game 1 as we settled for a 0-0 tie. Game 2 in Komoka was a penalty ridden affair. After a scoreless 1st we gave up a pp goal in the 2nd. In the 3rd we had a couple of 5 on 3’s and although we had a flurry of chances we just couldn’t cash in. Then came the backbreaker as we gave up a short handed goal late in the period. We lost 2-0 and our Provincial hopes weren’t looking good. Then it was back to Tillsonburg for the 3rd and final game. We played much better in this one but remained scoreless after one. Then at the 3 minute mark of the 2nd Megan McGill ripped one home to get us on the board. In the 3rd we began to dominate play. Then Melanie Poirier scored what proved to be a HUGE insurance goal. Nat played great as usual and posted a 2-0 shutout win! After the game there was much confusion as to who actually won the series since we had equal points and equal goals for and against. As it turned out it came down to penalty minutes and WE WON THE SERIES!! So its off to Provincials in April. Congratulations girls! Good luck the rest of the way!!