U13A Aces Buckle Down for 5 tight battles only be taken down by a familiar foe in a heart breaking shoot out loss.
Aces started their Friday welcoming the Burlington Barracudas to town. Fast paced play awarded Reese Campbell the first goal of the game with the-ever-deceptive wrap around. Burlington answered back with a quick goal. The match remained a tie until the Aces took a penalty late in the third; a full court press by Campbell netted her second goal with another wrap around for the first short handed goal of the tourney. Aces win 2 to 1.
Second match of the day had the Aces facing the Bluewater Hawks. Reese Campbell capitalized on a 2man advantage to clip the Hawks in the first period. Gracie Ross held backend with a shut out for a 1 to0 victory over the Hawks. Saturday’s first match had Aces facing their nemesis, the Woodstock Wildcats. The game went back and forth for the first 2 periods until the third; Myla Burdett lit the scoreboard first early in the third followed closely by a powerplay goal from Julia Glitz. Gracie Ross gladly accepted her well deserved second shut out of the tournament.
Oshawa Lady Generals were the final opponent for the Aces to tackle on Saturday night. A silent first period left the crowd wondering if the girls had run out of batteries for the weekend; after a post period pep talk, the girls came out strong in the second. Paisley Stevens accepted a clean face off win and ripped a point shot passed a screened goaltender for the first goal of the match. Ruby Kalbfliesch (sincerest apologies to Ruby’s family for butchering the last name) picked up her first of the tournament on a delayed penalty call against the Lady Generals. Alise Crawford snuck the third goal in the dying minutes of the second for a 3 to 0 lead heading into the third. Brook Stairs put the final nail in the coffin late in the third for a final score of 4 to 0. Couldn’t have done this one with out Gracie ‘Stonewall’ Ross achieving her third shut out of the tourney.
Semi final action pitted the Aces vs the Brampton Canadettes and GTA representative team was not going down without a fight. Plenty of penalties in the first did not help either team to light the lamp, 0to 0 after 10 minutes. Second period brought more penalties but Whitney Fraser was having nothing of it, a shorthanded corner snipe by Fraser put Aces up 1 to 0 in the second. Whitney was not finished yet as she scored the lone third period goal putting the Aces to a 2 to 0 final.
Aces moving on to the final, and if Gracie hadn’t done enough, she had her fourth shut out of the tourney. Aces faced Woodstock Wildcats in the final, Woodstock would not go away quietly or quickly as they proved to be the better team in this match. Scoreless after 4 periods, the game ended in a shoot out loss with one goal scored. Aces had to bite down on silver medals this time. Final score Woodstock 1 to0.Special thanks to the coaching staff; Darren Stairs, Dean Burdett, Ali VanStraten, Leanne Stairs, and KrisFraser, the girls appreciated the passion, enthusiasm and the ‘Go To’ attitude. And a special thanks to the tournament organizers and the team sponsor, Line X.