It was a gold medal finish in Mitchell for the Twin Centre Hericanes Novice LL#2 team last month, as they beat out the host team in the finals.
Coach Troy Cluthe says it was a team effort for the girls, who came out on top of their division after playing four hard-fought games.
“We won the first one 4-1, then we tied Mitchell in the round robin. That was a really good game. We scored with nine seconds left. We lost the third game 2-0 against South Huron, but we ended up playing Mitchell again in the final and we beat them 2-0.”
The second game, against Mitchell, was a close one. The girls were down 1-0 with two minutes left in the third period, but they managed to tie it up.
- Advertisement -
“We gave up one goal in the second, but we kept it close,” said Cluthe, adding that the Hericanes had plenty of chances, but just couldn’t sink the puck. “We had lots of breakaways and lots of scoring chances, but their goalie played really, really well. We had about five breakaways in that game, and we just couldn’t sneak one by her.”
Coaches made the decision to pull their goalie with two minutes left in the third, adding an extra attacker on the ice. The move paid off.
“We ended up with a nice little scramble in front of their net, and one of our girls had a nice back-hander and put it in the net,” he shared.
He says the team was ecstatic when they beat the same Mitchell team in the final, clinching the gold medal.
“It was very exciting. The girls, they were definitely pumped up,” he said.
In the final game, the team had a new goalie in net, and Cluthe says it was great to see her get the shutout. He says he can see their team practices paying off.
“We rotate our players on a regular basis, so they all get a chance to play goalie at some point, but everyone has picked up their level a little bit, and they all contributed. It wasn’t one individual player out there, it was definitely a team effort,” he said.
The team will continue with their regular league play until mid-December, but that isn’t the end of the season for the local league team. The girls will be in New Hamburg for a tournament in January, and another in London in February.
