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Third-place for Northern Ontario girls hockey team

The Northern Ontario Bantam Girls hockey team captured third place in a Quebec AAA Hockey Tournament over the weekend.













The Northern Ontario Bantam Girls hockey team captured third place in a Quebec AAA Hockey Tournament over the weekend.

Further details are included in the following release issued by the team Sunday:
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Gatineau, Que.
A recently assembled prospect team consisting of Bantam aged girls from various communities throughout Northerneastern Ontario played this past weekend in a six team Outaouais Elite AAA hockey tournament and had an exceptional showing in their first ever competition since coming together in late April.

“We are so pleased with the results this weekend considering we’ve had very limited practice time. These results speak directly to the high level of talent each player brings to this team from their respective hockey teams. These young women have come together quickly and competitively at the highest level in their age group and we are proud of their efforts in representing Northern Ontario” said Gaetan Gosselin, (New Liskeard) the manager and architect of this prospect team sponsored by New Liskeard’s Ebert Welding Ltd.

Game 1 results: N.Ont Ebert Welding 5, Ottawa Valley Selects 0. Scoring for Northern Ontario Melissa Cloutier (Smooth Rock Falls), Ashley Gosselin (New Liskeard), Megan McGee (Smooth Rock Falls), Marissa McMullam (Hailebury) and Lyndsay Merkley (New Liskeard) with goaltender Brittany Bisaillon (North Bay) earning the shutout;

Game 2 results: N.Ont Ebert Welding 3, Outaouais Express 1. Scoring for Northern Ontario Megan McGee with a pair and Julie Haase (Kirkland Lake) netting the winner. Goaltender Laura Handley (North Bay) allowing only one goal early in the first period earned the win;

Game 3 results: N.Ont Ebert Welding 2, Governeurs St-Hubert 4. St-Hubert jumped out to an early 3-0 lead by the mid-point of the first period before Karine Bergeron (Belle Valley) responded with a power play goal for N.Ont. St-Hubert gained back the 3 goal lead before the first period ended. Second period went scorless.

It was not until the third period on another power play that N.Ont. drew a bit closer with a goal by Natasha MacDonald (Hailebury). N.Ont. dominated the play through the final period but just were not able to captitalize on the opportunities during the penalty filled game (8 to St-Hubert, 4 to N.Ont). The loss went to Brittany Bisaillon.

Game 4 results: N. Ont Ebert Welding 0, Partriotes Trois Rivieres 3. Trois Rivieres established their physical dominance early in the game crashing both the boards and the net gaining a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. They continued their physical play and thru a penalty filled game (9 to Trois Riviere, 7 to N. Ont.) finally cashing in with two late goals early in the third period to defeat the N. Ont team 3-0. In taking the defeat, Laura Handley was named the game’s MVP for her brilliant play in making 32 saves against the Trois Rivieres sharp shooters.

In the Semi-Final game Sunday morning, N. Ont again played the Partiotes Trois Rivieres the N. Ont team adjusted their strategy to make better use of their speed hoping to take away the physical game that had won the previous game for Trois Rivieres. The first ended scoreless and Trois Rivieres managed to score a lone goal in the second frame to go up 1-0 and by the third period the short bench took its toll on the N. Ont team and Trois Rivieres won the game 3-0 with N.Ont goaltender Laura Handley stopping 39 shots in the game.

“Our players learned a lot from this, their first tournament at the elite level but most importantly they’ve gained the confidence needed to play at this level and be successful. Assembling a group of young women and with little practice time be able to compete at this level is phenomenal, and we hope at least to at least match our performance at the Etobicoke tournament at the end of the month,” said Head Coach Daniel Leveille (Earlton).

Other team members from North Bay Jodie Stevens, Chelsea Campbell, Sara Maillet, from Earlton Kaysha Leveille , from New Liskeard Katelyn Tracey and from Smooth Rock Falls, Trainer Carole Cloutier.