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Despite a valiant effort Sarnia Lady Sting Midget AA
team were sent home after the quarter finals this
past weekend in the Provincial Championship
tournament.
After drawing a very tough pool, Sarnia knew they
would have to step it up to finish in the top two
and advance.
First game was against Nepean Wildcats. Play was
very even through out the entire game, but two
strong goalies ended things in a 0-0 tie. Erica
Sullivan earned the well deserved shutout.
Second round found the Sting against the very strong
team from Stoney Creek, one of the favorites going
into the tournament. They would prove to be too much
for Sarnia and easily win the game 5-0, leaving the
Sting scoreless for the second game in a row.
Round three was against Brampton Canadettes, who
Sarnia had beaten in a previous tournament. In the
opening period, Emily Williams would end Sarnia's
scoreless slump by scoring on the power play. Karl
Dobbin and Danni Girard would get the assists.
Williams wasn't done yet though. Her hard work would
pay off in the second as she would find a lose puck
in front of the net and bring the Sting up 2-0.
Brampton would make things a little closer in the
third, after scoring a few minutes in, but with
under a minute left, Dani Girard would send the puck
the length of the ice to score an empty netter, and
cement the win for Sarnia. Sullivan had another
strong game in net.
Moving on to the OT round, and fourth game of the
tournie, Sarnia would face league rivals London
Devilettes. After two solid periods of end to end
challenges from both teams, the game would remain
scoreless going into the third. Sarnia would score
early in on a beautiful shot from Jillian Rops. Dani
Girard would get the only assist. Unfortunately, in
a game full of penalties, London would tie things up
on the power play. The third period would end in 1-1
tie, and send things into overtime. After two ten
minutes periods of overtime the game still remained
tied at 1-1. Both teams had many great scoring
chances, but two tough goalies were stealing the
show. Finally halfway through the third overtime,
Sierra Butler would send the puck out from behind
the net, where Alicia MacDougall would get her stick
on it, and slip it past the Devilettes goalie to
give Sarnia the triple overtime win and move them on
to the next round. Cassie Kerrigan's very strong net
minding skills kept Sarnia in it through all six
periods.
Game five was against the team from Kanata. Sarnia
already being short players and exhausted from just
playing a few hours prior in the triple OT victory
did not have the steam to pull off another victory.
Once again they would not be able to find any
offence, and lose the game 2-0 on 2 powerplay goals
ending their dreams for a Provincial medal.
With one player missing, one player sick, and
another injured from a hit from behind in the
opening game, Sarnia showed amazing perseverance in
making it as far as they did against some very
strong opponents.
The Sting now move onto the second round of league
playoffs against rival Bluewater Hawks. First game
is this coming Sunday, 2:30, at the RBC.
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