Juniors Post Another Win On Weekend
It is true that with the sweet there is sometimes the sour and the ladies on the Goderich Junior Ringette team experienced both on the weekend. This past Sunday began as a gruelling road trip to London for a 1:30 pm date first which was followed up by a stop in Seaforth at 6:00 pm.
In London, the team fell behind 6-1 and then found their legs for a courageous battle back to 6-4 before finally capitulating. The following Seaforth game was the equivalent to the "Thrilla In Manilla" though, when the home team tied the score 3-3 at 3:43 of the final frame, only to have Goderich fight back from fatigue and notch a winner with only a single digit left on the clock.
Despite the loss in London, Goderich proved that they would not give up and showed immense heart and determination. Captain Erin Dietrich lead the way with a hat trick - all unassisted - and Ashley Johnson added a single. As a side note, the London team was the grand beneficiary of nepotism in the area of officiating this day. Similar behaviour on both teams does not equal five minor penalties to Goderich and nil to London - but to their credit, the ladies played through the adversity and are admirable for their determination.
From there, the team travelled to Boyd Devereaux country for a match at 6:00 pm. Although showing signs of fatigue in the early going, the coaching staff knew that the ladies still had plenty of petrol in the tank and were slowly cranking up the effort throughout the game.
Johnson's hot hand from the previous game extended to this contest when she opened the scoring with two beauty goals in quick succession, both right on the goalie's door step. Assists went to Jessica Hummel and Chandal Cunningham.
Jayme Austin tallied the next one for Goderich with a blast into the top corner after a crisp pass from Hummel.
Goderich went into the final frame up 3-1 and began to rest on their laurels a tad when Seaforth found their legs and tied it up.
Seaforth pulled their goalie and in a flurry of activity, eerily similar to the "Thrilla In Manilla", Johnson feathered a wonderful pass to Hummel, who fired home the game winner five-hole, with only 5.8 seconds remaining. The win can be attributed to strong team play and excellent goaltending by Meredith MeEwan. Congrats to all !
The Junior team is looking forward to Regionals, which is the year end tournament for Ringette held over the final weekend in March. Good luck to all the Goderich Ringette teams !!
