Apr 13, 2008 | Joanne Johnston | 1965 views
Atom Sailorettes take Silver Medal at Provincials
The McGeeMotors.ca Atom Sailorettes won 5 games in a row but lost the All-Ontario championship game to a strong team from North Bay, 4-3.
In round robin play, the Sailorettes faced the St. Thomas Panthers and defeated them 2-0, a victory that was bitter sweet as St. Thomas had robbed the girls of the gold medal in the Brampton Canadettes tournament 3 weeks ago. Scoring for Goderich was Megan Johnston and Becky Higgs.
The second game of round robin play saw the Sailorettes defeat Markham-Stouffville 4-1. Scoring for Goderich was Megan Johnston, Becky Higgs (2) and Bryanna Campbell. The final round robin game saw the Sailorettes matched up against a team from Peterborough. The girls dominated the game and easily defeated Peterborough 4-0 to finish 1st place in their pool. Scoring for Goderich was Megan Johnston, Becky Higgs (2) and Courtney Gardiner.
The Sailorettes would face their Hwy #8 friends from Seaforth in the quarter final game. The Sailorettes would be on fire and defeat the Stars 3-0 to advance to the semi-final game on Sunday. Scoring for Goderich was Sierra Burt, Becky Higgs and Hailey Bakker.
In the semi-final game, the Sailorettes would face the Carleton Place Cyclones, another undefeated team in the tournament. The Sailorettes would find themselves in an intense battle of skill and the game remained scoreless through the first and second periods. The Sailorettes would continue to apply pressure and with three minutes left in the 3rd period, Megan Johnston would poke the puck past the Cyclones netminder on a rebound from a Hailey Bakker wrist shot. The game would end 1-0.
In the gold medal game, the Sailorettes would face the North Bay Ice Boltz, a team much larger in size and also undefeated in the tournament. The Sailorettes would start the scoring first when Megan Johnston banged in a rebound after Becky Higgs charged the net. The lead was short lived when the North Bay team would tie it up. North Bay would apply pressure and take the game to a 3-1 score, midway through the second period. The Sailorettes were very eager to win and Megan Johnston would score her second goal of the game on a one-timer from Becky Higgs to make it 3-2. North Bay would then take the lead 4-2 however the Sailorettes would fight back and score with Courtney Gardiner slicing a nice shot past the North Bay netminder. The Sailorettes were unable to score to tie the game and it would end with the Sailorettes being Silver Medallists for All-Ontario, Atom C.
Not only was our offense scoring, our defense was defending and our goaltending was outstanding.
The Sailorettes fought through 12 teams to qualify for the Provincial Championship Tournament and then went on to finish 2nd out of 16 teams at the tournament. A tremendous team effort is required to achieve this accomplishment and the Sailorettes success this season has been largely in part to their "team effort". Teammates included Hailey Bakker, Madison McLean, Haley Ferguson, Shaley Oster, Katelyn McGee, Becky Higgs, Courtney Gardiner, Kayla McCabe, Amy Willis, Megan Johnston, Sierra Burt, Bryanna Campbell, Kailee Hewitt, Ashley Bakker, Kaitlyn Chagnon and Haley Bowman. Coaching staff was Henry Bakker, Mark Johnston, Lisa Hodges and trainers Joy Bowman and Mike McCabe.
The Atom Sailorettes would also like to say a big thank you to their sponsors, Martyn McGee and McGee Motors Ltd.