Dunny’s Source for Sports Peewee A Aces were eliminated in the quarter finals of the OWHA Provincial Championships on Saturday in Oakville by Cornwall after going undefeated in the round robin play and finishing first in their pool.Game 1 of the weekend had Stratford facing their local nemesis the Lucan Irish at Victoria Park Arena in Brampton. Both teams played hard through a scoreless first period. Stratford opened the scoring in the second period on a goal from Kelsey Dixon assisted by Alexa Horne and Tessa Deighton. Stratford would add to the lead with Dixon’s second of the period assisted by Alexa Horne and Paula Wouters.
Carly Wouters put the game out of reach in the third on a goal assisted by Leah Matthews and Anna Mohr. Megan Rauser and Eden Lalonde played well defensively and Rylee Kaufman was outstanding in net earning the 3-0 shutout.
Game 2 on Saturday night at the Victoria Park Arena had Stratford facing the North Halton Twisters. Stratford took the lead in the first period on a shot from Leah Matthews with Taylor Powell drawing the assist. Stratford extended the lead in the second on an unassisted goal from Courtney Simpson. Alexa Horne finished the scoring in the third on a goal assisted by Paula Wouters and Kelsey Dixon. Erin Kuepfer, Laura Chapman and Kaitlyn Mathieson were a force on the fore-check all game long pressuring North Halton in the offensive zone. Rylee Kaufman had another outstanding game in the 3-0 win recording her second shutout of the day.
Game 3 on Sunday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville had Stratford facing the eventual Gold Medal winning team from Whitby. Stratford got off to a very slow start and were fortunate to get through the first period with the score knotted at zero. Whitby would open the scoring in the second period to take a one goal lead. Six minutes later Stratford evened the score on a goal from Kelsey Dixon assisted by Jocelyn Ballantyne.
Paula Wouters would give Stratford the lead 30 seconds later with assists going to Ballantyne and Dixon. Stratford continued to play stronger as the game progressed and rode the great play of goaltender Creasyn Jordan to the 2-1 win solidifying first place in round robin play.
The quarter final game on Sunday at the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex had Stratford facing the Cornwall Typhoons. Both teams came to play with great back and forth action throughout the first period. A fluke play with 1:28 to play in the first period saw a clearing shot bounce off of an out of position official as Stratford was exiting their zone. The puck would bounce straight to two Cornwall players giving them a clear cut two man break on goalie Rylee Kaufman who had absolutely no chance on the bang bang play.
Stratford continued to show the effort and grit that they have displayed all year making them LLFHL Champions and continued to take the play to Cornwall but could not solve the Cornwall goaltender, resulting in a 1-0 loss and a disappointing exit from the Championships.
Stratford Dunny’s Source for Sports Peewee A Aces represented the City of Stratford and the Stratford Aces organization with class all year and were respected and feared by the opposition. The girls were the Etobicoke Pink the Rink Tournament finalists, Cambridge Roadrunner Tournament Champions, LLFHL Western Division Regular Season Champions, LLFHL Western Division Play-Off Champions, and the LLFHL Peewee A Champions. The 2001/2012 season was a special year for special group of girls’ congratulations to them all on a great year.