Skip to content

Junior A Ringette Squad wins silver

Sarah Trottier skates with the ring during tournament action. The local Ringette Junior A team came home with a silver medal from a tournament in the Ottawa area this weekend. Photo Submitted.



Sarah Trottier skates with the ring during tournament action. The local Ringette Junior A team came home with a silver medal from a tournament in the Ottawa area this weekend. Photo Submitted.

The North Bay Paramedics/CTS Canadian Career College Junior A Ringette team was on a roll coming into the 30th annual Gloucester Ringette Association Invitational tournament.

Having captured gold medals in each of the three previous tournaments entered this season and recently claiming the Northeastern Ontario region crown, they were the team to beat going in.

Despite topping the round-robin in their division, however, Sunday just wasn't their day. With little fanfare, they dropped their final game to Whitby, returning home with a silver medal.

In Friday night's opener, the Paramedics came out flat and looked sluggish throughout the contest against their Valley East rival. As is usually the case when these two teams meet, the first half was very physical with very few penalties being called on obvious infractions. Although the team regrouped a little in the second, it was too little too late. The Valley skated away to a 3-1 victory.

Saturday had the WFRA squad playing three games. In the morning match-up, they easily defeated the Timmins Juniors by a score of 6-2. Despite the score, the Timmins team provided excellent competition.

Their afternoon contest against the host Gloucester team wasn't quite so easy. Another tough start saw the Paramedics fall behind 3-0 by the end of the first half.

The after-burners then kicked in and the locals came back with five unanswered goals to finish with a 5-3 count.

The last game of the round-robin Saturday evening saw the WFRA entry meet Whitby. To this point the Whitby Wild was undefeated in the tournament. Easy wins over Valley East, Timmins and Gloucester had already guaranteed their place in the final Sunday. For Ferris, it was a must-win-or-tie situation. From the opening whistle, it was apparent they had come to play.

A full game effort was shown by the girls who repeated the dominance that they had shown in January when they defeated the Wild in their own tournament to bring home the gold. The final score of 5-3 for Ferris secured their place as the home team in the final.

Sunday's final was well attended by players and coaches from many rival teams. Whitby is presently the top ranked team in the Central Ontario Ringette League with only one loss in league play this season. Their defeat by the North Bay Paramedics/CTS Canadian Career College team in January came as a shock to the usually confident team who is used to rolling over their opposition. Saturday's loss only compounded their strong desire to get a win against the WFRA.

The CTS team just couldn't find the legs to compete on Sunday. Their small bench was easily worn down by the large Wild roster. Despite a valiant effort to hold on, they just couldn't do so, resulting in a 5-1 loss to Whitby.

Both teams will again meet in March in Pembroke for the Provincial A championships, with WFRA representing the Northeastern Region. Valley East was hoping to do well in this tournament to possibly gain the Wild Card place in the provincials.

Unfortunately, they dropped two of their games to finish with a 2-2 record in the tournament, not enough to make the final. Wild cards will be determined by the Ontario Ringette Association Executive this week.

The Paramedics/CTS team's roster includes goalies Tanesha Hamelin and Alex Rogerson, Sarah Trottier, Courtney Whitwell, Amanda Storie, Janelle Martin, Brianna Belzile,
Drew Elliott, Alexandra Parker, Melissa Closs, Jaimie Fitzer-Ross and Sabrina Seymour. In addition to also coaching the Belle A team, the awesome duo of Karen
Cook and Kaz Lutecki provide direction to the team. The bench staff is rounded out by Nancy Trottier, Rolly Storie, Dennis Martin and Barry Elliott.

Submitted to BayToday.ca



Reader Feedback

Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
Read more