Submitted by Rob Duncan. The Saugeen Maitland Midget AA Lightning came home with the bronze medal from the Lower Lakes League final this past weekend with their only loss in5 games to eventual champions, the Stoney Creek Sabres. The Lightning opened the round robin tournament with a 2-0 victory over the Etobicoke Dolphins. Maddie Duncan got things started with a clapper from the high slot with assists going to Cassidy Colhoun and Courtney Surridge. Colhoun then potted one of her own, scoring on a rebound off a Lexi Smith shot with an additional assist going to Miranda Lantz. Morgan Baker stopped all Dolphin scoring attempts to earn the shut-out in net.
The Bolts' second game was a 1-1 draw against their namesakes, the
Durham
West Lightning. Shea Tiley was solid in net, making many key
saves
especially late in the game, to preserve the tie. Kelly Gribbons
scored the
only goal for Saugeen Maitland, with the lone assist awarded to
Ashlee
Lawrence. The third game of the round robin for the Lightning was
another
1-1 tie versus the Whitby Wolves. Whitby opened with an early tally,
but
the Lightning held their ground and evened the score early in the third
with
Lawrence deflecting a Sarah Biesenthal point shot with the second
assist
going to Dawn Pletsch.
With a win and two ties, the
Lightning needed a Sunday morning win over the
Stoney Creek Sabres, a team
ranked 2nd of all Midget aged girls teams in
Canada, to advance to the gold
medal game. The game was a fast-paced, back
and forth affair with both teams
getting their scoring chances turned aside.
Stoney Creek opened the scoring,
but the Lightning stormed back with
Gribbons back-handing one into the roof
of the net with helpers from Pletsch
and Biesenthal. The Sabres pressed and
scored the go ahead marker late in
the game and then another into an empty
net to make the final 3-1 Sabres.
The Bolts' 4 points placed
them in third place after the round robin and a
berth in the Bronze medal
game against the Etobicoke Dolphins. The
Lightning found their scoring
touch, depositing 5 goals into the back of the
Dolphin net, three of them
with the man advantage. Gribbons led the way
with a hat-trick, while Harley
Westman and Lantz added singles. Assists
were awarded to Duncan (2),
Beisenthal (2), Kailyn Soers, Colhoun and
Lawrence. Etobicoke made it close
in the third when the Lightning found
themselves in penalty trouble, but the
Bolts hung on to win 5-4 and claim a
second consecutive Lower Lakes bronze
medal for Saugeen Maitland.
The Midget AA Lightning now look
forward to the Provincial Championships,
this year to be held in Ottawa to
coincide with the Women's World
Championships. For schedule and results see
the Lightning web-site,
www.saugeenmaitlandlightning.com.