BCH Atom Girls Win Year-End Tournament in Ayton
In a stunning show of determination and togetherness, the BCH Atom Girls managed to win their round robin games to advance and eventually capture the championship game on Sunday, Mar. 7 at the annual Ayton Atom Girls Year-End Tournament. Of special note is the fact that the girls' efforts last weekend is the first tournament win for BCH Girls Hockey in year two of its existence.
The girls opened the tournament with a strong first game against the Markdale Stars, winning 2-0. The team’s strategy of going all out with shooting opportunities showed some great results. Scoring for the game were Jet who shot the puck high up and beyond the goalie’s reach and Laura, with 50 seconds left at the end of the third, with Markdale’s goalie pulled, put in the second. Justice got the shut out as goalie thanks to some
great defensive work by Savannah, Shae-Lynn, Leah, Marlese, and Laura who kept Markdale attempts to a minimum.
The second game against the Honeywood Hurricanes was also one for the books as the girls delivered another great show of determination, winning 4-0. Honeywood’s players fought strongly, but the alert BCH defence put a stop to a large number of Hurricane scoring attempts and Justice worked hard to stop the puck. BCH scored first after Michelle centred it, from Joleen and Laura, and it bounced off a Hurricane skate to go into the net. Jet got the next one at half way through period one, from Andrea and Taylor. Honeywood picked it up a little and the second period was pretty even with no scoring from either team, but Joleen wasted no time at the start of period three to get our third goal, unassisted, after 49 seconds from centre ice. The Ice Dogs kept up the shooting and Taylor got a beautiful shot in by lifting the puck high for our last goal of the game, assisted by Maddie and Andrea. The Hurricanes never gave up, but they couldn’t score on Justice who earned her second shut-out of the tournament.
The next day, the team eagerly showed up for the championship game against the Beaver Valley River Rats. Period One saw the two teams battle it out to a scoreless draw. BCH opened the scoring at the start of period two when Laura got one with Joleen and Michelle assisting. The River Rats responded with almost three minutes of action in our zone trying to get a goal. Justice again rose to the occasion and stopped a number of shots while our forwards rushed back to help the defence. The River Rats kept up their effort and eventually got their first and only goal. Subsequent attempts didn’t though, as Justice kept making great saves. Laura scored our second goal assisted by Leah. And then, with only 47 seconds left on the clock, Jenna tipped in the third goal, assisted by Laura and Joleen, sealing the win at 3-1.
The girls celebrated with each other on the ice, shook hands with the opposing team and lined up for the trophy and medals presentation and numerous photos. The team took home the trophy and travelled back to Clinton for a celebration and some excellent food at the Dinner Bell. A special thanks to our coaches and staff for a great hockey season!
