Parkhill (North-Middlesex) Bantams defended their tournament title in fine style this past weekend at the Pyramid Recreation Centre.
The defensively-sound Parkhill club allowed just two goals in four games, while out-scoring their opposition 16-2 altogether.
Parkhill and the St. Marys McPhail’s Bantam girls went into Sunday afternoon’s championship undefeated. Parkhill (3-0) had allowed just two goals against in three round-robin games, and St. Marys (3-0) just one goal.
However, Parkhill proved to be just too strong on this day—skating to a convincing 4-0 victory. The North-Middlesex crew limited the host Rock to just a few good scoring chances.
All the offence Parkhill would need came in the first period as they scored twice before the contest was seven minutes old. They continued to apply strong pressure and tacked on two more goals in the middle frame—with one coming on a powerplay.
Emma Smith and Andrea Van Hooydonk paced the Parkhill offence, each with a goal and an assist, and Kaitlyn Austin posted a rather easy shutout.
St. Marys coach Rick O’Donnell tipped his hat to the well-coached North-Middlesex squad.
“Parkhill played well today and deserved to win,” O’Donnell said. “We’re very proud of our girls; they played really well all weekend. It was a good tournament put on by the host committee.”
Eighteen teams (six Bantam and 12 Midget) took part in the four-day, 3rd annual SMMHA-sponsored girls ‘C’ tournament.
Tourney sponsors for the Bantam and Midget divisions, respectively, were RBC (Royal Bank) and McDonald’s Independent Grocer in St. Marys.
Tracey Graham, of the RBC’s St. Marys branch, was on hand to help present medals to both teams following Sunday’s Bantam championship game.
Host Bantams play well
Rick O’Donnell’s McPhail’s Bantams opened with a tight 2-1 victory over the Milverton Royals Saturday morning.
Kerry Evans opened the scoring with a first-period goal for St. Marys from Taylor Fawcett.
After Royals tied it 1-1 with the only second-period goal, Fawcett fired what proved to be the winner at 7:20 of the third. Kayla Bukich assisted.
“The girls played well today,” Rock manager Sheila Coulthard reported.
“We played a really solid first period, Milverton was perhaps the better team in the second period, and we played solid again in the third.”
Anne Marie Nairn was “outstanding” in net and was selected game MVP, Coulthard noted. “She played a great game,” the manager said.
Nairn earns shutout
Nairn continued her fine play in the afternoon as the McPhail’s Bantams skated to a 3-0 shutout victory over the Woodstock Wildcats.
After a scoreless first period, second-period goals by Taegan Haynes and Taylor Fawcett put St. Marys in the driver’s seat. Kerry Evans added the final tally in the last minute of the third.
“We’re playing really well as a team, the girls are backchecking, and we’re playing with confidence,” coach Rick O’Donnell said.
“We’re carrying the puck instead of just shooting it away, and Anne Marie has been playing really well.”
Complete round-robin undefeated
On Sunday morning, the McPhail’s Bantams blanked Grand River Mustangs 3-0 to complete round-robin play with an undefeated 3-0 record.
Emily Clark scored twice for St. Marys, which jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead. Taylor Fawcett had the other goal, and Rebecca Nagle contributed two assists.
Anne Marie Nairn chalked up her second shutout of the tourney.
Notes:
•St. Marys minor hockey president Don Gibson said he wished to thank tourney convener Lothar Mueller and his hard-working team of volunteers for hosting another successful tournament this past weekend.
•Next SMMHA event is the annual Peewee-Bantam Additional-Entry boys tournament on the Nov. 6-8 weekend.