TORONTO, ON - This past weekend at the OWHA Provincial Championships the North Bay Girls Midget B Ice Boltz claimed the Bronze Medal in their division.
The Ice Boltz started the tournament Friday with a very physical game against the Milverton Royals. The girls came out hard and took the lead with a goal in first period after some end to end play. Two goals in second put the game away and teams traded goals in third as North Bay won 4 to 1.
The second game Friday the girls faced a big Mississauga Chiefs team and the girls were ready for the hard for checking team. The Boltz scored early in first period to set the tone for game. Mississauga got into penalty trouble trying to slow down the Ice Boltz and the girls made them pay with two more power play goals in second to put the game out of reach and finished with a 4 to 0 victory.
The third game was Saturday morning against the high ranked Brantford Ice Cats and the Boltz were ready for them. The Boltz scored late in first to take the lead but the Ice Cats had the Boltz under pressure for the first half of second period to try and tie up. The Boltz goaltender made a great save and defense made a great pass to forward breaking up the ice and a perfect shot put the Ice Boltz up 2 to 0. The girls played a great defensive game the rest of way and added a empty netter to seal win 3 to 0 and a bye to the quarter finals.
The quarter final Saturday night the Boltz would face a strong defensive Lucan Irish team. Both teams came out playing a very defensive game. North Bay scored on a nice passing play to take lead in first period and with strong goaltending by both teams the game remained a 1 goal game until late into third period. Lucan pulled there goalie with a minute and a half left and would tie the game with 30 seconds left in game and force overtime. The overtime seen chances by both teams to end the game and some great saves were made by the goaltenders. At the 8 minute mark of overtime the Boltz got a power play and ended the game with a power play goal with less then a minute left and send the Boltz to the medal round.
The Ice Boltz Sunday morning faced the Ennismore Eagles a team that had only lost 4 games all year. The Eagles came out flying and had the Boltz under pressure for the first 5 minutes. The Boltz settled the game down with strong defensive play and the game remained scoreless until the half way mark of second period. The Eagles would score on a nifty passing passing play to take the lead in the second period and added another less then two minutes later to put the Boltz down two. North Bay never stopped working and some great goaltending was needed by the Eagles the rest of the way and the Ice Boltz lost the game 2- 0 after a scoreless third period and put them into the Bronze Medal game.
The Bronze Medal game the Boltz would face the Clearview Ice Cats and both teams were 4 and 1 up to this game. The game started slow as both teams played very defensive hockey for the first 5 minutes. The Boltz with some hard for checking got a break at the 6 minute mark and scored to put them up 1 after 1 period. The Ice Cats in second got into penalty trouble trying to slow the Boltz down and the Boltz would add two more goals in second and with strong defensive game and great goaltending the rest of the way won 3- 0 and claimed the Provincial Bronze Medal in the Midget B division that started out with 18 teams.
Team members are as follows; Heather Thomas, Fred Levesque-Girard, Alison Brazeau, Tianna Hummel, Celine Tessier, Megan McCarthy, Sarah Major, Jessica Washburn, Brooklyn Ladouceur, Jennilee Peplinskie, Brigitte Kelly, Bailey Bentley, April Major, Brooke Mathias, Ashley Small Coaches: Gerry Major, Tom Mathias, Mike Peplinskie, Ted Hummel, Trainer: Chantal Tessier, Manager: Lori Major
Submitted to BayToday.ca
