For the first time since the sport was invented here in North Bay, the U19's have the honour of representing the West Ferris Ringette Association and the City of North Bay at the Eastern Canada Ringette Championships.
The West Ferris Ringette’s U19 Team won a silver medal in the Jacks division at the Ontario Ringette “A” Provincial Championships over the March Break.
The team went 5-1-1 during round-robin play to earn their trip to the semi-final against a talented team from Forest whom they had not defeated all season.
The 63s came on strong in the semis, besting Forest 7-5.
Mykaela Shymanski played an exceptional game in goal and kept Forest at bay for most of the game. Tyler Caldwell and Dominique Baldersaro contributed with 2 goals and an assist apiece, followed by a goal by Erin Ablett and a goal and assist by Hannah Boegel and Melanie Brouse.
These girls were set up with assists by Rylee Cote, Megan Brouse (2), Bobbie-Ann McCulloch, Lauryn Hamilton, Chanel Cyr, Emilie Price and Michelle Williamson.
It was an all-Northern Ontario final as the team met a tough team from Timmins who they struggled with during the round robin.
It was a see-saw battle that saw Chanel Cyr strike first at 10:28 in the first period. With 3:42 remaining Timmins scored on a miraculous shot off the face off, and tied it up to close out the first half.
Timmins went in the lead at 10:36 of the second half.
Not to be outdone, Lauryn Hamilton answered the call ten seconds later on a spectacular passing play set up by Emile Price and Kaitlyn Pace tying the game at 2 a piece.
Timmins responded 26 seconds later to take the lead.
Excellent goaltending by Maddy Laframboise kept the 63's in contention and at 2:38 remaining in the game Rylee Cote made a great pass to Erin Ablett who buried the ring to tie up the game at 3-3.
After a timeout, Timmins did not like the prospect of facing the 63's in overtime.
The 63's struggled to clear the ring from their end and Timmins took advantage and went ahead with 0:54 remaining on the clock.
With the goalie pulled, the 63's almost tied the game in the dying seconds but suffered a heart-wrenching loss 4-3.
However, the team secured the wild card spot at the Eastern's as well as being awarded the Sportsmanship ship award-voted by the 7 teams in their division as well as the referees.
The team will compete against teams from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, taking place from April 19 to 22, 2018.
Due to the financial burden of participating out of province, the team is welcoming donations and will be organizing a Pasta Supper and silent auction in the coming weeks.
Contributions to the silent auction are welcome.
To donate please contact Terry Ablett at [email protected]
