Nov 18, 2019 | RNyenhuis | 433 views
Rod Smith Aces go 1-2-1 at Home Tourney
Defensive Zone Rushing Taking Shape
The Rod Smith Atom B Aces took part in co-hosting the Aces Festival Cup this past weekend, giving the girls the opportunity to continue to develop as a team by facing division rivals with different looks and different levels of success. The girls opened the tournament hosting the London Devilettes early Friday morning taking a hard start to the tourney with a 7-1 loss.
The girls picked up and travelled to Milverton to see the Kitchener Lady Rangers for a Friday matinee looking for a better showing. Coach Smith decided she’d had enough of the scoring drought and tossed her snipers together to start the match. This immediately paid huge dividends as Kiera Blain and Katie Wheal each nabbed a pair putting the squad up 2-0 in the first. The Rangers would not relent coming up and halving the Ace lead in the second sputtering one over the line behind keeper Flanny. This put the pressure the Ace offence needed to find the back of the net once more for insurance as Blain nabbed another bringing the Aces up 3-1. The Rangers would try again coming within one, but the Aces would skate away with a 3-2 win.
Saturday’s affair would bring the Lambeth Lancers into the Dufferin Arena. The Aces would start out by displaying their developing tape to tape defensive zone breakouts giving the cold home crowd some warmth to see their girls using the whole ice to advance their game their way against this tough Lancer team. This however would evaporate into progressive Lancer attacks bearing fruit with Lancer goals. The girls would concede 5 unanswered to the Lancers and would have to look past and move on to their final challenge that afternoon against the Wilmot Wolverines.
The Stage was set for a divisional pride match to round out the Ace tourney against their nearby foes the Wilmot Wolverines. The Aces are 0-1-1 on the season against this pesky bunch and were looking to show the Wolverines them their improved level of play. Early in the first, veteran Ace Claire Donnelly, using the classic Gretzky Canadiana adage “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take" took a pass back to the point from Charlee McFarlane and launched a wrister deflecting at the net and nabbing her first on the season putting the Aces up 1-0. After the Wolverines would tie things the Aces would go ahead again with a nice tap in on the doorstep from Brinlee Wall assisted by Charlee McFarlane and Emerie Smith. It was Wall’s first on the year as well. Penalty trouble would prove fatal for the Aces as the Wolverines came back and tied up the game once again and the two foes would skate to a 2-2 draw ending the tournament for the embattled gunners.