Mar 03, 2008 | rgrubb | 1358 views
Kinettes are going to the Show
I'm not a betting woman, but if someone had asked me whether the Walkerton Capitals (Kinettes) midget B girl's hockey team would defeat the South Huron Sabres in the Provincial playdowns in three straight games, I would've taken that bet. The Capitals have had trouble with the Sabres all season but by the time the final prize was on the table, Walkerton had their opponents figured out.
March 2 the Capitals traveled to the Stevens Township arena in Exeter
for the third game of this best-of-five series. Showing that hard work
and diligence pays off, the Capitals were heading into the game with
two wins already under their belt and a chance at a clean sweep
imminent. And sweep the Sabres they did.
As expected, the game was a battle start-to-finish and it wasn?t
until the closing seconds of the first period that the first goal of
the game was scored. Katrina Grubb set up Robin Harper who quickly
buried the puck behind the Sabres goalie and Walkerton was ahead 1-0.
The second period brought on more of the same fast hockey action for
everyone in the building. At 8:33 the hard word paid off again for
Walkerton when Maria Kuntz advanced the pass up to Colleen ?Sneaky
Pete? Parks who quietly entered Sabres territory and snapped home the
Capitals? second goal before the Sabres even knew she was there.
Things were very tense in the third period with a flurry of penalties
and Walkerton short-handed by one or two players the majority of the
first eight minutes. Parks was able to bend the twine, unassisted,
again at 11:02 to take the Walkerton lead to 3-0 for more padding but
South Huron was not finished yet. With three Capitals in the box,
South Huron finally broke the seal on the Walkerton net at 9:07. When
the Sabres shoved in their second goal four minutes later, the 3-2
score served as a handy reminder to the Capitals that it was time
finish things off and show South Huron what they?d practiced for all
year.
At 4:47, defenceman Janna Reading fed the puck up to Harper who broke
away with a Sabres player in tow but was still able to put one
top-shelf-next-to-the-peanut-butter and it was a 4-2 hockey game. With
two minutes left and nothing to lose, South Huron pulled their goalie
but Walkerton was fired up by then and were able to deal with the
extra Sabres attacker. Lauren Bell fought through the last line of
defence and led the parade to the Sabres end before sliding in an
empty-netter at 1:48.
Firm in their belief that ?it?s never over until it?s over?,
Walkerton continued the fight to the very end but the final buzzer
would sound with a 5-2 Walkerton win and a clean sweep of the series
over South Huron Sabres. The win qualifies the midget B girls hockey
team to participate in the OWHA Provincial Championship tournament in
April in Vaughn.
The next few weeks will be filled with practices, tournaments and,
perhaps, exhibition games as the Walkerton Capitals (Kinettes) midget
Bs prepare for their final quest of the season. But don?t despair
folks, there are still lots of exciting games being played at your
local rinks so be sure to take in some of the action.
written by Cindy Reading