Mar 08, 2015 | Steve Fogarty | 766 views
Solid Gold!
On Sunday afternoon the Bantam B Mustangs found themselves in a familiar situation. This was the girls fourth tournament and fourth straight appearance in the gold medal game. With the girls already flush with silver medals it was time for an upgrade on the bling as they took on the Hamilton Hawks.
That bling upgrade looked like it would have to be put on hold as the Hawks opened the scoring with less than four minutes to go in the first on a shot that rolled up Loaf's blocker and in to put the Mustangs behind for the first time in 5 games.
The 1-0 score held up until the start of the second when Tegan scored on the power play to knot it up at 1-1. Taking advantage of their own power play opportunities, the Hawks started racking up shots but Loaf and Co were equal to the task and the 1-1 score carried over until the third.
Two minutes in, after gaining control of the puck off to the side of the Hamilton net, Jadyn put the puck on goal banking it off the goalies right skate and in to put the Mustangs up 2-1. The Hawks were not going to fly away and two minutes later on the power play tied up the score at 2-2. Despite being short handed for the remaining minutes of regulation, the Girls of Grand River weathered the storm and we were heading to OT for the third straight gold medal game.
With memories of tournaments passed dancing in the heads of players and parents alike, the sudden death session got under way. Just over a minute in, Cece outraced the Hamilton defenseman to a puck in the offensive end. Picking it up she drove to the net hoping to freeze the goalie on the post, she cut behind the net. By the time the goalie got to the other post it was too late as Cece wrapped the puck around and into the net, make the final 3-2.
It was great to see the hard work that the girls and bench staff put in pay off with the gold. It was a solid tournament and a win that comes at a good time with Lower Lakes round #3 on the horizon.
Grand River Mustangs Bantam B Champions 34th Walter Gretzky Girls Hockey Tournament.