The Romeo Optometry U-11 B Stratford Aces enjoyed a weekend of hockey and snow at this years Festival Cup. The final results of the weekend read 0-3-1 but that only tells you a small bit of the story! The girls enjoyed a great few days of development and team bonding.
The Romeo Optometry U-11 B Aces kicked off the Festival Cup tournament hosting the Woolwich Wild at the Allman Arena, Friday morning. The Hunter Steel Jr. B Stratford Warriors had a special surprise for our players! The Warriors had cleaned their change room out so the girls could move in! Warriors head coach Dave Williams welcomed the girls to the room and helped organize the opportunity. The girls really enjoyed the comfy quarters and then got ready to kick the tournament off. The first period saw an energetic Woolwich team back the Aces into their own zone for most of the period but Aces netminder Adeline Rae stood strong and held the Wild off. Woolwich finally broke thru early in the 2nd for the opening goal of the game. The period ended with our Aces down by 3 and looking like we might not be a morning team. In the 3rd period the Aces flipped the script and spent time peppering the Wild goaltender with a barrage of shots. Despite their efforts the Aces were not able to light the lamp but momentum was clearly on our side. Final score was 3-0 for the visitors. Player of the game went to Natalie Helson. The 2nd year defenseman from Shakespeare Ontario helped keep Woolwich to the boards in the D zone and provided some strong play in the offensive zone too!
The 2nd game of the day featured our Aces vs the St. Mary's Rock. The Aces jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the 2nd period when Aven Porter banged in a juicy rebound off a Brooklyn Beattie blast from just inside the hash marks. The Rock responded quickly to tie the game at 1 and that goal sparked the visitors. Final score was 3-1 for St. Mary's. Aces player of the game was Beattie who created a number of offensive opportunities for her team.
Saturday morning after the cars were cleaned saw the Aces suit up vs the Walkerton Capitals. The Capitals are a strong B team that our young Aces have tangled with recently. The Aces started strong again led by the goaltending of Rae and strong defensive play of Katie Price, Shay Williams and 2nd year center Grey Duchesne. The Capitals finally broke thru mid-way in the 2nd period. The final score was lopsided but the Aces effort was strong till the final buzzer. Player of the game went to Rae who saw more rubber than the snow covered roads in Stratford!
The Aces final game was vs the Branford Ice Cats. The girls showed that they still had lots of energy and had learned lessons from the previous games. Rae was able to rest in the net as the Aces offense was purring in the Ice Cats end! Alexandra McKay, Elliot Berg and Madeleine Nickle had numerous opportunities to score goals but the Brantford goalie was strong in her net. Ally Chadwick, Aubrie Smith and newly converted forward Williams also provided lots of offensive zone time for the Aces. The final was a 0-0 draw with a shutout for Rae and a player of the game award to Williams for her energetic spark up front for the Aces.
The Romeo Optometry Aces want to thank all the volunteers that made this years Festival Cup so enjoyable. A very special thank-you to the Hunter Steel Warriors for the use of their room and of course all of the parents that navigated the winter weather safely with our players!
