Nov 21, 2018 | Darcy Helson | 790 views
Atom C Aces Capture Silver at Festival Cup Tournament
The Dunny’s Source for Sports Atom C
Stratford captured a silver medal in the Stratford Aces Festival Cup Challenge
this past weekend.
After the tournament Coach Darcy Helson had
this to say, “What a great result for a hard working group of girls. Congratulations to each and every one of them
on their development and commitment to the team. It’s quite the hockey family we’re
developing.”
A total of eight teams were competing for gold in the Atom C Division. The Aces opened the round robin on Friday by skating to a scoreless tie against the Waterloo Ravens. The Aces were down a player early when Peyton Barclay was tripped hard into the boards. Piper Broughton and game MVP Cassidy Nelemans both had great games for the Aces. In the second game on Friday, the girls faced a familiar foe in the Huron Heat. It was a tight checking affair until four minutes into the second period when Krista McMahon scored on an end to end rush to put the Aces up 1-0. It remained that way until late in the third when the Heat pulled their goalie and Katelyn McMahon bullied her way past two Heat defenders to score on an empty net. Maeve Moss played an aggressive game on defence, and was named game MVP for the Aces while Peyton Boyles-Keating earned her second shutout of the tournament. Final score 2-0, Aces. In the first game on Saturday morning, the Aces played the Mitchell Meteors. The game featured several chances by both teams. Paige Taylor had a couple of her own. The best chance for the Aces occurred when Barclay led a rush down the ice and put a shot on goal, Abby Iacobellis managed to bang home the loose puck. Unfortunately, a quick whistle by the referee nullified the goal, and the game remained scoreless until the third period. In the third, a dump in by the Aces defence got caught up in a Meteor offensive player, who was able to break in and slide the puck under Boyles-Keating, resulting in the only goal of the game. Final score 1-0, Meteors. Iacobellis was named Aces game MVP. In the Saturday afternoon matinee against the Sarnia Sting, the offense was clicking in a 6-1 victory over the Sarnia Lady Sting. Iacobellis scored a hat trick in the rout, while Katelyn, Katie Wheal, and Brinlee Wall (her first of the year!) scored for the Aces. Contributing assists were Rachel Barber, Maeve Moss, Katie Wheal and Cassie Richardson. Barber was the game MVP for the Aces. The semi final saw the Aces face off against the Huron Heat. The Aces played their best game to that point in the tournament in their 2-1 win. It was the Aces’ fifth win in as many games against the Heat this year. Richardson scored her first of the tournament, with the assist going to Barber. Katelyn scored an unassisted goal to make it 2-0 before the end of the first. The frantic pace continued throughout the contest, with a high level of play demonstrated by both sides. The Heat were able to score when they pulled their goalie in favour of an extra attacker with less than a minute left. The Aces managed to hang on and earn the win to set up a rematch against the Meteors from Mitchell. In the final, the Aces jumped out to an early lead when Moss fed Katelyn, who rushed down the ice and scored on the Meteors goalie. Mitchell fought back to tie the game late in the first. Adele Helson made an end to end rush only to be stopped by the Meteors goalie in a tight checking second period. Boyles Keating was solid in net in the third, but Mitchell was able to a score with four minutes left in the third to give the Meteors a 2-1 victory. Congratulations to the girls on what was an amazing tournament and a silver medal to reward their strong team effort!
Article by: Cyril Moss