The Saugeen Maitland Bantam AA Lightning finished a busy week, playing 4 games inside of 7 days while qualifying both for the Provincial Championships and advancing to the Lower Lakes Division Finals.
Tuesday the Lightning travelled to Stratford to take on the Aces in Provincial Playdown action. The Bolts came out flying, scoring early and often for the 6-0 shutout win. Scoring for the Lightning were Jamie Simpson, Lexi Smith, Neve VanPelt, Jessica Dales, Miranda Lantz and Ashlee Lawrence. Ciara Lark, Avery Reeves, Nikki Zabel and Cassidy Mason added assists. Rebecca Ropp earned the shutout. Thursday night the Aces made the return trip for a Lightning home game in Teeswater. Again the Bolts carried the play, advancing to the OWHA Provincial Championships in April with a 4-1 win. Reeves scored 2 while Zabel and Lantz addedsingles. Kaitlin Eckert, Hannah Herman and VanPelt contributed with helpers. Morgan Baker was solid between the pipes to earn the win in net.
Saturday, Saugeen Maitland continued their 2nd round Lower Lakes play-off series with the Bluewater Hawks. The Lightning started strong, scoring the first 2 goals, but could not hold on as the Hawks came back with 4 un-answered, including an empty-net goal. Lantz scored first, assisted by Mason and Smith. Smith then scored one of her own with helpers from Lark and Mason. The Bluewater home ice win set up the series rubber match in Howick on Sunday. Both teams came ready and hungry for the chance to advance in the League play-offs. This time the Hawks started the game with more jump and scored the opening goal. However, the Lightning were not to be denied and came back strong, scoring 3 straight goals for the 3-1 lead. Lantz scored twice with assists awarded to Maddie Duncan, Herman and Eckert. Smith tucked one under the Bluewater tender on the wrap-around. The Hawks added another before VanPelt deflected in a Zabel point shot to make the score 4-2 at the end of the 2nd frame. Bluewater scored one to make it 4-3 early in the 3rd, but the Bolts showed resilience, holding the Hawks at bay for the remainder of the period for the victory. The Lightning now await their opponent for the Lower Lakes South-West Division final series. For current schedule and results go to www.saugeenmaitlandlightning.com.