U16 Capture Bronze Medal In Regionals
Although the year end tournament for Goderich Ringette had an ominous start for the U16 squad, the team overcame adversity to earn a bronze medal on the final day of competition against Kitchener.
The tournament was staged in Guelph this year on March 26, 27 and 28 and arenas in Elora and Fergus were also utilized. The eight team U16 division was separated into an invitational and a championship bracket - the Goderich Junior team was playing on the championship side.
Through round robin play, the outlook appeared grim for the team when they dropped their initial game against their nemesis Forest, 6-3 on Friday afternoon. Saturday morning's game against Owen Sound was a heart-breaker as well because two Goderich goals were called back and Owen Sound went on to win the contest 7-5, which included an empty netter.
This set up the gold medal game between Forest and Owen Sound, while Goderich were set to play Kitchener. The Saturday night game against Kitchener meant nothing, and the ladies did not play to their full potential in this game. The result was a 3-2 defeat.
Sunday afternoon's medal game soon became THE game to win and the Goderich team rallied back from a two goal deficit to crank in six unanswered goals. Jessica Hummel scored first at 11:47 with a rifle shot from the hash marks. Following up that marker 42 seconds later to tie the game was Ashley Johnson with a nifty little wrap-around move. Captain Candace Cunningham then added two sniper shots at 6:49 and 4:58 to catapult the U16 crew to a lead that they would not relinquish. Adding insurance to the two goal lead were Lauren Dietrich (with her patented laser-wrister) and Jenna Pentand.
Those two additional tallies came in handy when Goderich became complacent in the second period and Kitchener began to march back with a two goal effort of their own.
The Dietrich goal turned out to be the winning marker though and the team were awarded their bronze medal after a 6-4 win.
Assists in this game were awarded to Dietrich (2) and a single to Brittany Boyce.
Congratulations to the rest of the winning team, Courtney Beattie, Kaitlin Fisher, McKenna Hulley, Maren MacKenzie, netminder Meredith McEwan, Marijke Oudshoorn and Keisha Stoddart ! Well done ladies ! Also cheers to the coaching staff, Coach Kevin Hummel, Assistant Coach Shawn Johnson and Trainer Gayle Fisher !
Now its on to Championship Day on April 10, to play Forest for the Huron-Perth title and the final game of the season - good luck ladies !
