Feb 06, 2020 | Sean Cameron | 481 views
The Humphrey Fleet Service Atom A Aces Take Gold at Devilettes Tourney
The Humphrey Fleet Service Atom A Aces captured the 30th annual London Devilettes tournament with a 4-1 over the South Huron Sabres, February 2.
The Aces were hungry and got off to a quick start when Jule Cameron hammered Maren Marshall's point shot home 23 seconds into the contest. Eve Binns picked up an assist. Thirty four seconds later Krista McMahon ripped a beauty from Emersyn Miller and Linley Porter. The teams exchanged chances throughout the first. A minute and a half into the second, Jayda Dietz banged it home as she was levelled out front. Camryn Medhurst and Jayda Houben earned assists. The Sabres ruined Malaika Kibedi's shutout bid with five minutes left in the third on an odd man rush. Kibedi got most of it with her blocker but not enough. The Sabres pressed hard to knot it up at three but Kibedi made several great stops and Miller added an empty netter to seal the 4-1 victory.The Aces opened the tourney with a hard fought 5-0 win over the Stoney Creek Sabres, January 31. The Aces held a 2-0 lead until the final two minutes. Van Bakel opened the scoring with a one timer after Miller found her out front. Miller added an unassisted tally early in the second. She converted the feed from Cameron at 1:57 and then again from McMahon with 1:29 remaining. Dietz connected to close out a 5-0 win at 1:20 of the third, from Van Bakel and Houben. Kibedi made several saves for the win.In the afternoon the Aces took to the ice versus the North Halton Twisters. With netminder Chloe Rison unavailable for the weekend because of illness, Kibedi was called upon again. The Twisters opened the scoring after they crashed the net and got tangled up with Kibedi. Unfortunately she couldn't get across to stop the wraparound. The Aces roared back with 10 unanswered goals. Ava Harmer led the way with two goals and two assists, Binns scored once and added three assists, Miller recorded a hat trick (in the final three minutes of the first), Kylin Wilson, Emma Van Nes, Porter and Houben added singles. Cameron added two assists, and Dietz added a helper. After two games, the Aces sat in first in their pool ahead of division rivals the South Huron Sabres. The teams exchanged chances throughout the February 1 contest with both keepers making several great saves. The Aces relentless and tenacious attack proved to be too much early in the second. With the Aces shorthanded, Miller drove down deep in the zone and then dished out front to McMahon and she ripped a beauty just under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead. Marshall also assisted. Kibedi got just enough of a Sabres shot on a three on one rush to cause it to hit the crossbar late in the second. Then she came up huge in the third with the second place Sabres needing a win to secure the first place bye for the semifinals. The Aces executed its forecheck and defense to perfection and prevailed 1-0. Kibedi earned the shutout. The defense pairings of Eden Fraser, Kylin Wilson, Emma Van Nes, Maeve Moss, Maren Marshall and Camryn Medhurst were dominant offensively and defensively. The forwards Van Bakel, Houben, Dietz, Miller, Porter, McMahon, Harmer, Binns and Cameron were tenacious on the puck and were quick to break up dangerous rushes throughout the tournament. With the best record of all the pool winners, the Aces advanced to the semifinal at 7:45 a.m. February 2 versus the Huron Heat. The teams exchanged chances early and Kibedi came up with a big glove save midway through the first. Harmer opened the scoring late in the first when she faked a wraparound and then came back the other side and found Eve Binns out front and she snapped it home.Early in the second, the Heat pushed hard for the equalizer. Moss made a huge stop on a dangerous rush unfortunately the Heat ripped a shot by Kibedi to knot it at one with seven minutes remaining in the second. Kibedi made several saves in the period as the teams battled for the go ahead tally. When Houben was hauled down late in the second, the Aces took advantage of the power play opportunity. Marshall's point shot was stopped but Miller hammered it home with 28 seconds remaining in the second. Van Bakel also picked up an assist. The third was intense with both teams getting quality scoring chances. Dietz ripped her own rebound home with 6:51 remaining to make it 3-1. Van Bakel and Houben assisted. Kibedi was busy late and came up with some crucial saves, especially on the penalty kill. They now will shift the focus to playoffs. They host St. Thomas Panthers February 7 at 1:45 p.m. at the Molson Arena and then head to St. Thomas, February 8 for game two.
