It’s been a busy week for the Walkerton Capitals (Kinettes) midget B girls’ hockey team, but the girls took everything in stride.
Starting the itinerary off the Capitals traveled to Tiverton to take on their Thunder midget team for a schedule league game. Well worth the drive, the teams battled back and forth for possession of the puck with a mere three penalties the whole game. By the end of the first the scoreboard was still registering doughnuts and the teams both set about to change that in the second.
Digging hard behind the net, Katrina Grubb was able to pass the puck up to defenceman Janna Reading who stepped in to quick-pass it to Colleen Parks. Parks was then able to smoothly direct the puck into the Tiverton net and the Capitals took the lead at 12:53. Fired up, Grubb and Lauren Bell stormed the net on their next shift and Grubb was able to slide in the second Walkerton goal at 9:39. The 2-0 score would prove to be the only scoreboard action left in the game, but fans were still treated to some terrific girls’ hockey before the final buzzer with amazing stops being made by both netminders.
Orangeville Tournament
The Capitals once again took part in the annual Orangeville Sweetheart tournament January 16 to 18 with play beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a game against Georgina Golden. Both teams struggled on the slow ice surface. Walkerton was first to adjust, however, and started off the scoring at 8:47 in the second when Becky Busby and Maria Kuntz set up Parks for the goal. The Capitals’ lead was doubled five minutes later as B. Busby was fed the puck by Jasmine Richardson and she shot it home.
As Georgina fought to get these markers back, the Walkerton crew was just warming up and coach Rich Grubb got everyone on the same page. Richelle Busby was able to score the third Walkerton goal at 11:28 in the third, assisted by B. Busby and Kuntz. At 7:02, B. Busby finished off her six-point evening with an unassisted goal. Georgina was unable to get the puck past goalie Alanna “AJ” Anstett and the Capitals had their first win: 4-0.
Walkerton’s next games were the following day and, although not really a great day to be traveling, it was a great day to be tucked tight in a nice warm arena. First facing the host Orangeville Tigers, the red and blue were able to light up the scoreboard once in the first and again in the third. With Anstett firm between the pipes, these two goals were enough for a 2-0 win. Scorers were B. Busby and Chantale Bourque with assistance from Kuntz, Rachael Diebold, Carolyn Hodgson and Bell.
In the second game of the day, the girls faced Woolwich Wild and a wild game it would prove to be. While Walkerton was able to score in the first – Bell assisted by Grubb and Kuntz – the teams used up every inch of the ice surface in the match-up as waves of offense and defense swayed constantly back and forth. As a special treat, the entire game would see only one penalty so it was an fast and exciting game of good, clean hockey for all onlookers. Woolwich never was able to answer the solo goal and when the final buzzer sounded Walkerton had captured their third win of the tourney.
Play on Sunday was for the top two teams and, once again, the Capitals faced off against the Wild for bragging rights.
Yet another game of sheer determination and skill began. Walkerton rang the first one in at 6:45 in the first when R. Busby and B. Busby sent the puck back up to the point where Kuntz fired it home. Woolwich kept up their efforts and tied things up with a mere 49.4 second left on the clock. The second period was a déjà vu and Bell scored goal number two for Walkerton, unassisted. With 43.8 left in the second, Wild were able to tie it up again.
Breaking the pattern in the final period, Wild hit the scoreboard first at 11:12 for a 3-2 lead. Digging deeper and deeper, Walkerton was able to finally pull out another marker from their bag of tricks at 1:22 when Bourque and Grubb assisted Bell. Tie game.
The remaining seconds were played out fast and furious but neither team was able to break the tie. A five-minute, sudden death overtime was played and still these evenly matched foes were in gridlock. Unfortunately, in my opinion anyway, the game then called on tournament rules and a three-shooter shootout began to decide the outcome of the game. Bell, Parks and Grubb swallowed their nerves and each faced the Wild goalie but none could slip the puck past her.
On the other end of the ice, Anstett was indeed the last line of defense for Walkerton as she faced the Woolwich shooters alone. The deciding goal that was allowed into the Walkerton net was quickly and expertly snapped up and under the crossbar by the Woolwich player and not a goal to hang your head about.
Once again the Walkerton Capitals (Kinettes) midget B girls’ hockey team got stalled in the finals but past experience has shown that that does nothing short of firing ‘em up. Stay tuned as the girls rock off a couple league games in prep for International Silver Stick in Sarnia in early February and see if they can get the job done.