The Saugeen Maitland Midget AA Lightning
visited the USA motor city
of Detroit and did not give up a single goal in
their 5 games in the USA
– Canada Cup Series tournament this past weekend. Goaltenders Rebecca Ropp and Morgan Baker
combined for the 5 shut-outs, a feat not equaled by any other team at the
twenty team international tournament.
The Lightning won 4 of those 5 games and battled to a 0-0 draw in the
other.
The Lightning opened the tournament Friday morning with an 8-0 win over the Buffalo Bisons. Ashlee Lawrence led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists. Tori Terpstra added 2 goals and 3 assists while Neve Vanpelt chipped in a goal and 3 assists. Cassidy Colhoun and Avery Reeves contributed single tallies while additional assists were awarded to Lexi Smith (2), Maddie Duncan, Mel Nolan, Sarah Biesenthal and Reeves. The Bolts second game was a 6-0 shut-out against the Alaska All-Stars. This time Lexi Smith scored the hat-trick with Lawrence adding a pair of goals and an assist and Terpstra a single along with her 2 assists. Kailyn Soers, Jamie Simpson, Jordyn Sholdice, Duncan and VanPelt also contributed helpers.
Saturday morning, the Lightning played their closest and perhaps most exciting game of the tournament against the North American Hockey Academy (NAHA). The fast-paced, end to end game ended in a 0-0 draw with neither Lightning goaltender Ropp or the NAHA backstop allowing a goal in three periods plus an overtime. The Lightning last game of the round-robin was against the Washington Pride. The Bolts found their scoring touch again, wounding the Pride 5-0. The Bolts showed a balanced scoring attack with each of Lawrence, Nolan, Terpstra, Reeves and VanPelt scoring singles. Ciara Lark, Nikki Zabel, Duncan, Soers, Smith, Lawrence and Nolan all added assists. Baker turned aside all Washington shots for her second shut-out of the tourney.
Because of the tournament format, the Lightning 0-0 tie in the round-robin meant the gold and bronze medal games were out of reach and the Bolts faced host Little Caesars Sunday morning in a battle for 5th place. The game remained scoreless until half way through the 3rd period until VanPelt buried the go-head marker with an assist from Soers. Lawrence iced the game late in the period to make it 2-0 with an empty net goal with assists from Colhoun and VanPelt. Ropp was solid between the pipes for her 3rd shut-out.
Next weekend the Lightning travel to Windsor and London for two regular season away games. Follow the Lightning at www.saugeenmaitlandlightning.com.