Mar 06, 2022 | rnyenhuis | 176 views
Aces Find Fertile Ground in Perth County
Aces Put their All out on the Ice , Cannot Solve Wildcat Goalie, For a Silver Medal at the Meteor Tournament
The Abtron Electric Stratford U13 C Aces entered the Mitchell Meteor Girls Hockey Tournament 2022 edition a confident team. They had every reason to be. With a hot goaltender in Ivy Hurley Demers behind them the girls had every reason to push their offensive play forward with three solid lines of unrelenting offence that is gelling at the right time. The Ace D of Lerch-Stokes, Finnie-Nickel, Wall-Nyenhuis held the blue line, pinching and clearing the zone with robotic professionalism. Every girl can be and is counted on to do their part for the team.
They entered the tournament in Perth County's southern portion of the Thames in St. Mary's facing the Cold Creek Comets for the first time. The game plan, as ever, was to work as a team. It become abundantly clear early on that the Aces would take the game to the Comets and the Aces emerged 5-3 to win the opener. Goals came from Charlee MacFarlane, Katie Wheal, Leighton Nickel, Selina Gethke and Lydia McLaughlin.
Next at the host town of where the Thames snakes through in Mitchell to face the Aces early season nemeses the Central Perth Predators. The Aces stumbled against this strongly offensive team early on in the season and now was the time for their revenge. The back line's guaranteed clearances provided countless advances for the developing tic-tac-toe front line passing to finish. The Aces emerged yet again with a 5-3 victory. Goals from Brooklyn Finnie, Charlee MacFarlane, Emerie Smith and 2 from the prolific Lydia McLaughlin.
To round out the pool, the aces would see the Wallaceburg Lakers in the truly tepid cesspool of Monkton in the North Perth abyss where dowser Toby needed to look far and wide for running streams with any kind of moving water to fuel the girl's essential hydration against a big bruising team from where the mighty Thames ends in Lake St. Clair. The girls would eke out a 3-1 victory paving the way to the tournament semi's back in the Thames in Mitchell Sunday morning where the Predators awaited their rematch. Goals came from Jessica Lerch, Selina Gethke and a third period end to end bar down howitzer from Pippa Nyenhuis.
Sunday morning on the Mitchell pad, the Aces ready as ever, knew what they had to do. Neutralize the Pred's streaking offense and pound the upright Pred goalie with shots. As one Ace fan aptly pointed out, by using the law of averages, shoot, shoot, shoot, and we will win. Well shoot they did and a 3-1 victory was made. Goals came from Lydia McLaughlin and a top self beauty from Leighton Nickel.
One final foe remained. The foe the Aces have not solved in their covid turbulent season. The Woodstock Wildcats and their unsolvable netminder.
The stage was set. 4 pm. In the host waters of Mitchell. A covid capacity busting crowd. With stakes this high, every cloud topped proud family matriarch and patriarch busted free of the chains of almost exactly 2 years isolation, risking it all - joining the next generation - to see their 3rd generation fight for victory. Two teams that were well aware that the taste of victory - sweet as it is - was only an hour away.
Pressure. Hustle. Sticks on sticks not allowing an inch of movement. The Aces would raid the Wildcat net throughout. Unrelenting. Ace shots throughout easily outmatched the Wildcats 3:1. The Macfarlane, Gethke, Maclaughlin line, then the Nickel, Wheal, Smith line, and finally the Philips, Brander Pethick line, shift after shift brought it to the Wildcat net. The Aces went down early with rare Wildcat pressure overwhelming the Ace D to produce their only result, a result that would stand despite the pressure to the end - where, with an empty net behind them Lydia Mclaughlin would send a puck from the slot for the right side only to be gloved out of the air by the Wildcat netminder who would hang on to be gold medalists - handing the sourness of defeat to the Aces in a tourney they were destined to win.
Congratulations go to the silver medal Ace girls - you deserve it and you did us all proud.
And on they go, the playoffs await.