Saugeen Bantam A Tremendous Season Stopped in Provincials
Saugeen saw their season come to a finish in game 3 when they lost 2 - 1 to Carleton Place Cyclones in a must win by the Lightning. It was a great year for the first ever Bantam A team in Saugeen who finished 2 nd in regular season and ending up winning the South West Division to finish 4th out of 44 in the League.
Saugeen tied game one 2-2 vs Brantford, lost game 2 against Toronto Leaside 2-0 with an empty net goal and then losing 2-1 in the final game of the season.
Game one: Friday morning saw Saugeen up against Brantford Ice Cats and the visitors jumped to a first period lead. With a minute to go in period 2 Tori Harshman broke in alone and scored to knot the game at one.
30 seconds later Brantford scored to resume the lead on a failed attempt to clear the zone. Tori Harshman struck again with 4 minutes to go in the game on a set up from Tori Terpstra and Reagan Kaufman to tie up the game with the game ending tied at 2. Saugeen lacked intensity and second effort and needs to ramp up the effort but will take the point.
Game 2: Saugeen came out with a better effort in game 2 but lack of scoring continues to stymie the team and a second period goal was all that Leaside needed to win the game. Toronto scored an open net goal to cement the win and send Saugeen into game three with a must win situation. Again Saugeen had more chances and controlled a lot of the play but missed shots on net and breakaways.
Game 3: In a game where the winner moved into the quarter finals and the loser goes home Saugeen came with their best effort of the weekend. Coach Bill juggled the lines and went with 3 D to try and create some scoring. Saugeen opened the scoring in the second period on a great rush by Janine Vandershot who created a 2 on 1 and at the last second sent the pass to Reagan Kaufman who buried the pass for the lead after 2 periods.
Goal tender Rebecca Ropp took a puck or skate to the neck and play was stopped for 10 minutes in the third. Becks stepped up playing hurt and continued the game but Carleton struck for 2 goals in 46 seconds and with Becca pulled Saugeen could not get the equalizer and Carleton skated off with the victory sending the Lightning home for their last game of the season.
A great effort for Saugeen who played with heart and effort but clearly missed Jordyn Sholdice out with a concussion for the balance of the year leaving a short bench on the D side. All the players stepped up and gave 110%. Congratulations to the Bantam A on a terrific season and the coaching and support staff for the hard work and time. We could not be prouder!
