Goderich Belles are the 2008-09 H.P. Champions
The Goderich Belle Ringette club came away with the Huron-Perth Championship on Sunday. It was a 5-4 overtime win vs. Stratford that sent our 16 and 17 year old players into a frenzy and only 30 seconds into the overtime.
The game was back and forth throughout with both teams having and giving up the lead on more than one occasion. Derrick and Briar shared the net minding and held us in there. Kelsey and Jodi had 2 goals with a single from Abbey. Meredith, Katie, Jackie and Callie provided strong and aggressive defence which tends to show up in our penalty minutes as well, with the "D" taking 16 of our 24 min. in penalties. Jacy, Julia and Hayley had assists in the game. Gritty efforts from Meagan and Josie provided all the added offence needed to prevail with our biggest win of the season.
As mentioned in previous articles; Stratford has been our nemisis this season, taking wins in all six meetings that included the regular season, the Stratford tournament and the round robin playoff's.
Our players were a very focused squad on this day. We were so very close in 3 of our previous games vs. the mostly second year team from Stratford that we did'nt want to let this most important meeting slip away without a real battle.
Penalty trouble in the first period was a concern as on three occasions we had two or more players sitting in the box of sins. As noted, it was our defence with a number of those penalties which forced our forwards into defensive rolls and they proved to be a solid force. We ended the first period with a 2-1 lead.
Jodi had our overtime goal with assists from Katie and Jackie. Congratulations Ladies and Gents on a great game and a very successful season as first year Belles. We'll see you all on the Fire Truck in warmer weather.
Bench Staff; Mike, Dan, Matt, Candice and Deb (sometimes Shelley and Heather) really enjoy our time with the players (well, most of the time) and each other and hopefully we'll all be back together again next season. If any other parents would be interested in taking on a roll behind the bench or on the ice at practices please don't hesitate to come forward at any time.
The Belle club would also like to congratulate the Tweens and the Novices who are Huron-Perth Champions as well. Have a great summer all!!!
