Jr. Ringette squad brings home silver

Silver lining! The North Bay Jr. A Ringette squad poses for a photo after capturing provincial silver in Sault Ste. Marie last weekend. Photo submitted.

SAULT STE MARIE -The North Bay Paramedics/CTS Canadian Career College Junior A team returned this weekend from the Provincial A championships in Sault Ste Marie proudly
displaying silver medals for their efforts.

The tournament began with an early morning match up Thursday, when the team met a strong entry from Hamilton. It was evident right from the start that the Ferris crew wanted this victory and would stop at nothing to get it. In the first few minutes of play, the WFRA exchanged goals with their competition but in the end, it was all Ferris. The final score was 5-2 with goals from Sarah Trottier, Amanda Storie, Courtney Whitwell and Janelle Martin.

The afternoon contest, however, was not so easy. Facing their rival Valley East, who had previously defeated them in the northeast region playdowns, the locals looked sluggish. An early goal by the Paramedics was all they could muster before the Valley crew took over. Although the score was a tight 3-2 at the half, the Valley crew shut the door on the North Bay scoring effort while popping in three more goals to finish with a 6-2 victory.

Fortunately, this would be the only defeat they would have in the round robin.

Friday morning they regrouped and skated to a 7-0 romp over Thunder Bay, the northwest region reps. Tanesha Hamelin registered the shutout. In the afternoon, they were pitted against an unsportsmanlike Ajax team, from the central region, who were no match for the Juniors. With little fanfare, Ferris dominated the play throughout the game and rolled over the Stars by a score of 9-3. A highlight of the
game was the first goal of the season scored by Brittany Lamers, with Brianna Belzile and Drew Elliott also adding to the total score.

In the last day of the round robin, the team was in a must win situation for both their games. With four teams tied for first place with one loss each, it was time to step up their game. Since they would be meeting one of the teams with whom they were tied and another trying to stave off elimination and make it into the medal finals, the pressure was on.

The noon hour match up with Nepean was nothing less than chippy. With a total of 44 penalty minutes assessed during the game, it was obvious that both teams were gunning for the win. A scoreless first period kept the fans on their feet, looking for someone to strike. Excellent defensive play by the team of Alexandra Parker, Jaimie Fitzer-Ross, Trista Strange, Melissa and Carolyn Closs kept the wall up
around Hamelin, preventing the Nepean snipers from breaking through the defensive triangle. With just 5:34 left in the game, Nepean was on the powerplay and was the first to find the net. Although it looked like they were headed for victory, a well placed shot by Martin with 2:33 left on the clock forced the game into sudden death, setting Trottier up to deke the goalie and find the back of the net two minutes and 30 seconds into overtime to capture a sweet win.

Game six against London would prove to be an all-Ferris show with the Bayites dominating the play. Despite the 5-2 score at the end, the score did not tell the full story since London was not able to crack the defensive triangle, was outplayed by the forward unit and outlasted by the energetic WFRA squad.

Although this victory secured the 2nd place overall for Ferris, they were still required to meet this same team in the Sunday morning semi-final. In the bronze medal game, however, it was a different team. This time, the Lynx came out ready to play. A see-saw battle was fought throughout the two periods, but Ferris came out on top once again squeaking by with a 5-4 victory, sending them to the gold medal final, against the other northeastern region entry, Valley East.

Both teams wanted this win. Since a rivalry has developed between these two associations over the past few years, both were hungry for the gold. Valley East, was defeated by West Ferris last season in playdowns but captured silver at last year's provincial games after qualifying for the wild card. This year, a similar scenario was unfolding but the Valley team was not looking to settle for second place. They were focused on their goal from the opening whistle and struck early. With two quick game markers in the first three minutes of play and a score of 5-0 at the half, the Valley demonstrated that they would not let up. A final score of 7-3 assured the gold for Valley East. Nevertheless, the WFRA entry was extremely pleased with their performance this weekend only dropping games to the very tough Valley team. In the end, it was a great day for the northeast region going one-two in the elite provincial tournament.

Throughout the weekend, the West Ferris offence dominated the provincial boards in scoring with Sarah Trottier once again leading the province with 22 points, followed in second place by Courtney Whitwell with 16. Amanda Storie made the top ten, kicking in for 12 points overall. With an excellent plus/minus record, the powerhouse locals showed that they are an excellent two-way team.

"The coaching staff of Karen Cook and Kaz Lutecki has done a wonderful job of
developing these girls this season," said team Trainer Nancy Trottier.

"With how they pulled together this weekend, we showed that there is no 'I' in team. This victory belongs to all the girls and we're extremely proud of them!"

Team roster: Alexandra Parker, Amanda Storie, Courtney Whitwell, Melissa Closs, Drew Elliott, Brianna Belzile, Brittany Lamers, Trista Strange, Sarah Trottier, Janelle Martin, Jaimie Fitzer-Ross, Carolyn Closs, Tanesha Hamelin. Coaches Karen Cook & Kaz Lutecki, Trainer Nancy Trottier, Manager Barry Elliott.

Submitted to BayToday.ca