Our Lucan U13A Girls Team took part in the 24th
annual Women’s International Silver Stick Tournament in Sarnia on January 5th - 7th.
Our Girls were excited for the hotel, extra long games and the chance to defend our title from last season! We had some tough competition in our group with London, South Huron, Wilmot, Barrie and Stoney Creek in our Division.
We kicked things off Friday versus the Barrie Sharks. Barrie came out hard and took the lead on us twice, but Lucan fought back hard and tied the game, 2-2 final.
Friday afternoon we locked horns with the Sabres from Stoney Creek, whom have an outstanding record. Lucan played them hard every shift, however SC opened the scoring with an amazing, impossible angle backhand top corner goal. Our Girls stuck with it though and pushed back chances of our own. In the dying minutes, we pulled Ava for the extra attacker, battled like crazy and tied the game with 16 seconds left! An amazing clutch goal to secure a very valuable point. We finished the opening day of competition with two ties and two points.
Day 2 saw us do battle with the Wilmot Wolverines. After a tight scoreless opening period, our offence came to life! Each line and all our mighty Defense contributed, blasting shots from all angles and bulging the twine, final score Lucan 6, Wilmot 1. Game 4 for us drew our highway 4 rivals from South Huron. The standings were very close, and we could’ve finished anywhere from 1st to 5th, depending on the outcome of this game. Our Girls came out focused & strong, building an early lead and riding that to a 3-1 win. When the dust settled on the round robin games, the Irish finished with 2 ties, 2 wins, 12 Goals for & 5 against, and 6 points, good enough for 1st place. This matched us up with a return bout versus South Huron in the semifinals Sunday morning.
Each game we’ve played versus South Huron has been a tight defensive battle this year, and this one proved to be the Grandaddy of them all! The Sabres took the lead early in the first period with a wild net front scramble. Lucan was determined however and came back with a beauty shot from the slot to tie the score. The play carried on from end to end, with both Teams having their chances. But as has become a theme in these battles, the Goalies take over and simply refuse to be beaten! Regulation time didn’t solve the matter, so overtime was needed. We started with a 5minute, 4on4 Players overtime, which ended with no scoring. We then switched to 3on3 format, until the winning goal was scored. Each Team had their chances, but each Goalie refused to blink, making save after heart-stopping save. Every play was magnified, every shot, bounce, turnover, pass, line change - could be the deciding play. By sheer determination, effort and hustle defensively, neither Team could break loose enough to bury the winner. The overtimes continued, with the Teams switching ends every 5minutes, but the Goalies stood tall and the score board stayed frozen at 1-1. The Teams traded power plays, but no one could beat the Goalies. The Teams traded glorious chances, pucks trickling towards the goal line and desperation plays, but still the Teams refused to give in. The overtimes continued, blocked shots, water bottles ran dry, exhausted athletes, pushing through injuries just in time for their next shift, and spectators watching in amazement at the epic battle unfolding on the ice. Our Girls dug deep time after time, pushing with all they had left, 1 more shift, time after time...and the overtimes continue, no flood. The battles, shots, blocks, saves repeated at both ends, at an unbelievable rate. Then finally, as the seconds ticked down in overtime #10, our Lucan forwards gained the zone with speed, turned back and dished a perfect pass to our Captain at the blueline, who, with a screen set in-front, fired a perfect shot top corner to win the game!! The Team erupted in celebration and a feeling quite like no other experienced before! It was certainly an unforgettable game for the ages! With the extra long regulation time, and an absolutely amazing 50 minutes of overtime, the game lasted 97 minutes! Equivalent to almost 3 regular season games for us, rolled into 1. The game started at 10am, finished at 12:20pm, an unbelievable performance by all Players on both Teams, especially those 2 Warriors in the nets!
That semi final win booked our ticket to the Finals versus Stoney Creek. Our Girls hydrated and recovered as best as they could, even sleeping in cars in between the games! The Sabres certainly have many impressive offensive weapons, and took the lead early in the final. Our Team battled as best we could, and had chances of our own but were unable to finish. A couple late goals by SC sealed the win for them, but our Girls gave it everything they had left that day.
Our Girls had a blast, played an equivalent of almost 9 games in 56 hours, made it to the Finals, and gained valuable experience in pressure packed games! Congratulations to Stoney Creek on their win, and all the other Teams on a great tournament. Congratulations to the Lucan U15 Girls whom were also in the tournament, and Lucan U18 Girls who also made it to the Finals in their Division! A great weekend for Lucan Girls hockey! Thanks to Sarnia for hosting us again this year!
Up next, a busy January with regular season games, then the Devilettes tournament Feb 2- 4!