Jan 29, 2019 | Darcy Helson | 657 views
Wildcat Tournament Boosts Regular Season Play
The first weekend in January saw the Dunny’s
Source for Sports Atom C Aces compete in the annual Woodstock Wildcats
Tournament. The Aces played some of
their best hockey of the season when they squared off against two of the top
teams in the Atom B division of the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League.
The girls put forth a determined effort in all four of their games while going 1-3 on the weekend. The momentum from the tournament carried into the Aces’ first two regular season games following the Christmas break. In their first game against the Huron Heat, the Aces kept their shifts short in the opening minutes. Midway through the first Maeve Moss sent Katelynn McMahon on a breakaway. Katelynn went high on the Heat netminder and scored to give the Aces a 1-0 lead. The Heat caught a break late in the first when a pass from the side of the net was deflected up and over the outstretched pad of goalie Peyton Boyles-Keating, tying the game at one. After a scoreless second period, the Aces offense started to dominate the Heat in the third. Katelynn rang a shot off the post early in the period, while Katie Wheal put together a fine rush down the left side of the ice but wasn’t able to solve the Heat goalie. Stratford took the lead for good when a shot from the point by Moss was tipped to Cassie Richardson, who then fed Paige Taylor at the side of the net for her first goal of the game. With under a minute to go in the third and the Heat net empty, Piper Broughton corralled the puck, shovelled it to Taylor, who scored her second of the game. Final score 3-1, Aces. The second game of 2019 league play was against the South Huron Sabres. Katelynn McMahon led the way again when she scored arguably her two best goals of the year. Both goals were scored on a breakaway, the first one set up by Katie Wheal and the second by Cassidy Nelemans. Katelynn absolutely ripped both shots into the top left corner where the Sabres goalie had no chance of making a save. The Sabres scored on a sharp angle shot before the end of the second period, making the score 2-1 heading into the third. The line of Taylor, Broughton and Richardson was persistent in their forecheck in the offensive zone throughout the game leading to several chances but unfortunately no goals. The Aces killed two penalties in the last three minutes and managed to hang on for a 2-1 win. The Aces have five games remaining in the regular season. The girls travel to Embro on Sunday to face the West Oxford Inferno, followed by a game in Aylmer against the B.A.D. Girls on Tuesday.
Article by : Cyril Moss