2001 Girls impress at Canlan Girls Hockey Challenge, News, 2001 Girls, 2011 (Maitland PEP Ice Sharks AAA Spring Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2011 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Jun 13, 2011 | mlandry | 2659 views
2001 Girls impress at Canlan Girls Hockey Challenge
The Maitland Ice Sharks minor atom girls competed against ten other teams this past weekend at the Canlan Girls Hockey Challenge. The Sharks played four tough round robin games finishing with a best overall record of four wins and no losses. As a result of their 1st place standing, the Sharks advanced directly to the championship game, facing the winner of the 2nd and 3rd place seeds. The final game was played against the Lil Devils. It was a fast paced, back and forth game with tons of excitement. Unfortunatly for the Sharks, we could not score on the tough Devils goalie and lost a close 1-0 game.


Game #1 - vs Valley Pro Sports
Valley Pro gave the Sharks everything they could handle in this game, opening the scoring in the 1st period. With 34 seconds left in the first, Tatum James streaked down the boards and tied the game on an outstanding effort. The play was set up by a nice chip off the boards from Alyssa Andrews.

The Sharks then ran into penalty trouble for most of the 2nd period. Twice, the Sharks killed off lengthy 5 on 3 disadvantages. Goalie Skylar Stockie was outstanding in net and the defence group of Mattie Shipp, Claire Horan, Ally Denstedt, Mia Landry and Madison Beishuizen frustrated the Valley Pro Forwards with tough, defensive hockey. The 2nd period ended at 1-1. In the 3rd, Valley Pro went ahead due to a bad line change (coaches fault). It wasn't looking good but these Ice Shark girls never quit pressuring the puck. With about three minutes left, Mikayla Flanagan stole the puck near the net and beat the goalie with a quick shot. The Sharks built on this momentum and with 1.43 minutes left, the hard working unit of Brooklyn Rau (goal scorer), Madison Smith (assist) and Flanagan (assist) scored the go ahead goal. There were smiles all around after this comeback (especially from the coach).

Game #2 - vs Hockey Inc.
The Sharks knew they had their work cut out for them playing a strong Hockey Inc team. Hockey Inc. easily handled an opponent in the morning putting up a large number of goals. Wary of a couple strong Hockey Inc. forwards, the girls followed the game plan perfectly. Constant pressure by our forechecking forwards and great pinching by the defense kept the play in Hockey Inc's end for most of the game. In particular, forwards Leah Herrfort, Keltie Talbot, Christena Downey and Tori Gavin created numerous turnovers.

The game was scoreless with about 5 minutes to play when Gavin finished off a gorgeous passing play from James and Flanagan. From there, Stockie took over and shut the door. Laura White joined us after missing the morning game (she won three gold medals at a morning track and field meet) and was a force on defense. Final score 1-0 Ice Sharks and off to the hotel for some fun (just ask the parents).

Game # 3 - Premium Tire Predators
An early morning game greeted the girls on Saturday. This didn't stop the enthusiasm though. The Sharks jumped to an early lead when Herrfort scored on a neat wrap around (James assisting). Two minutes later, Gavin banged home a rebound from Smith and James. Again, penalty troubles occurred as the aggressive Sharks kept going to the box. This didn't faze the Sharks as James scored a "shorty" from Smith and Denstedt. At the end of the 1st, Sharks led 3-0.

From there, the Sharks cruised to an easy victory. James scored again in the 3rd to make the final 4-0. Stockie made a couple great saves for her 2nd shutout and the defence pairings of Horan/Landry, White/Denstedt, Shipp/Beishuizen didn't allow one rebound shot the entire game.

Game #4 - Elite Stars
Before the game, the Sharks knew a win would give them 1st overall and a bye into the final (although the coach didn't tell the girls). This was by far our best game of the Spring. The final score of 2-0 was flattering to our opponent. The Sharks completely dominated in all areas of the game. Only bad thing in this game is that Stockie ended up with cold feet and a number of forwards missed some glorious empty net chances. Congrats to the Elite Stars goalie who was terrific. The 1st goal was scored by Andrews (crashing net for rebound goal) after a great chip from Herrfort and wide drive and shot by James. This was a textbook goal the girls had been practicing during the week and it finally paid off. James scored the 2nd goal off a clever pass from Downey. On to the final!

Game #5 - Lil Devils
Having seen the Devils play during the tournament, we knew this would be a tough final. In particular, the Devils goalie looked to be unbeatable.

As predicted, the game started fast and the pace never died for the entire game. Two teams with great work ethic battling for every loose puck. Unfortunately for the Sharks, our habit of not capitalizing on offensive chances came back to bite us. Rau and James were stymied on breakaways and Smith and Downey missed point blank opportunities. Both goalies made outstanding saves in this back and forth contest.

The Devils finally opened the scoring with 5 minutes left in the 3rd on a beautiful shot Stockie had no chance on. The Sharks pressed hard in the final minutes and nearly tied it in the last seconds with Stockie pulled for an extra attacker. It was a well deserved win for the Devils and although disappointing for the Shark players, they couldn't have played a better game, just one of those things.

Overall, the Spring season was a tremendous success for this 1st year team of 2001 girls. Their tournament play record was 7-1-2. They showed they could play with every team they faced. More importantly, a number of new friendships were made and a fun time was had by players and parents. Good luck girls with your winter teams and we'll see you next Spring.

Coach Mich