submitted by Rob Davidson
The Saugeen Maitland Lightning Midget AA women’s hockey team capped off a very successful season by winning gold at the Lower Lakes Female Hockey League Championship Weekend. Playing without team leader and captain, Gina Murray, the Lightning produced a gritty effort to win consecutive games on Sunday to win the Overall LLFHL Championship and becoming the top team out of 41 elite Midget teams in Ontario.In game one, the Lightning posted
a 3-1 win against the Central West Champion, St. Catharines Chaos. Scoring in game one for Saugeen were Brooklyn Irwin, Dollee Meigs and Brittany Butcher while picking up assists were veteran Laken Smith (3), Abbey Gibson, Butcher and Brooklyn Irwin.
In the other semi final the Eastern Ontario Champion, Belleville Bearcats upset the pretournament favourite, Toronto Aeros 2-1.
In the Championship game versus Belleville, the Lightning were down 1-0 with 6 minutes to go when Laura Irwin scored to tie the game. Laura Irwin scored again with a couple minutes left in the game to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead. Goaltender, Stephanie Sluys and the Saugeen defense fended off a late game flurry of shots by the Bearcats and preserved the 2-1 win for the Lightning. Picking up her fourth assist of the day was Laken Smith while Brittany Butcher and Kelly Garrow also had helpers.
The Championship game marked the 73rd game for the Lighting this season, finishing as LLFHL Overall Champions, Southwest Division Regular Season and Playoff Winners as well as a tournament win in Windsor and silver medalists in tourneys in Whitby and Scarborough