by Paul Nixon
The Walkerton Capitals Kinettes Midget Rep Girls claimed GOLD
at the Midget “BB” Ontario Women’s Hockey Association Championship in Ottawa on the weekend. Sixteen of the top Midget “BB” teams competed
for GOLD and the Capitals prevailed after six tight games and defeated the
Scarborough Sharks 2-1 in the final.
The road to Gold started on Thursday, April 4th at 6:45 p.m., against Brampton Canadettes with the Capitals winning 4-2. This game was a pay back as Brampton defeated the Capitals 2-1 in their opening game at the Silverstick in Sarnia. The Capitals potted two goals in the second when Julie Thomson and Joelle Busby gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. Brampton replied with a goal in the third to cut the lead in half. Rebecca Rier of the Capitals restored the two goal cushion shortly after, however, Brampton answered right back to make it a 3-2 game late in the third. The Capitals responded two minutes later when Janelle Weber found the back of the net to make it a 4-2 final. Busby, Lauren McLean, Thomson, Destiny Berberich, Weber, and Ashton Nixon, picked up assists on the goals.
The girls were back in action on Friday, April 5th at 11:00 a.m., against Gloucester Cumberland Stars. This was a chippy game with the Capitals taking eight minors and the Stars only had two. The Capitals put in a solid effort and won 2-0 with Alyssa Inglis picking up the shut-out. Leah Kittel opened the scoring in the first for the Capitals and Thomson rounded out the scoring in the third. Busby notched an assist on the Thomson goal.
On Saturday, April 6th at 12:30 p.m., the Capitals met up with the Scarborough Sharks, which would be a preview to the Gold medal game. The Capitals controlled the game and won 2-0 with Inglis earning another shut-out. Weber got the Capitals on the board late in the first period from Thomson. The Capitals carried that 1-0 lead into the second period. Haley Fischer of the Capitals scored to make it 2-0 on a goal mouth scramble. Nixon and Trudy Young assisted on the goal. The Sharks goalie, Arden Earhart, kept her team in the game as the Capitals peppered her throughout the game.
The Capitals met up with the Zorra Fuzion on Saturday, April 6th at 7:30 p.m., in a quarter-final match up with the loser going home. This was a tight checking game with the Capitals earning a 2-1 victory on the strength of two power-play goals. Thomson buried a goal late in the first unassisted and Rier replied with a goal midway through the second period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. The Fuzion spoiled the shut-out for Inglis when they scored on a power play of their own to make things interesting. However, it was not enough and the Capitals moved on to the semi-finals.
The Capitals found themselves in the semi-final game on Sunday, April 7th at 10:00 a.m., against a familiar foe in the Lakeshore Lightning. These two teams played back in March in the semi-final of the Lower Lakes Playoffs and the Lightning knocked the Capitals out of the playoffs in a shoot-out. While this game did not disappoint and the Capitals won 5-4 in thrilling fashion in double overtime to sent the Lightning back to the Belle River. The Capitals opened the scoring late in the first to take a 1-0 lead when Thomson scored from Busby and Maddy Wright. The Lightning struck back one minute later to knot the game at 1-1. Berberich restored the lead for the Capitals a minute later when she tipped in a pass from Fischer and Melynda McKenzie. The Lightning responded 16 seconds later to tie the game at 2-2 late in the first. The Lightning carried that momentum and scored one goal in the second and one in the third period to take a commanding 4-2 lead with 7 minutes left in the game. The Capitals found life when Busby buried a power play goal from Thomson to make it 4-3 with 4:13 left in the game. At the 2:15 mark of the third, Weber of the Capitals tied the game with Wright earning the assist, which sent the game to sudden death overtime. The first overtime solved nothing and went to a second overtime. The Lightning took a penalty which set the stage for the come back for the Capitals. Missy Adams of the Capitals jumped on a loose puck in the offensive zone and deked out one defender and fired a laser to the glove side where mom keeps the peanut butter to seal the victory and send the girls to the Gold medal game.
The Capitals entered the Gold medal game against the Scraborough Sharks who had upset the favoured Kitchener Lady Rangers in the quarter-finals. This game was similar to their earlier game with the Capitals dominating play but not finishing as the Sharks goalie, Earhart, was playing unconscious. The Sharks opened the scoring in the first period but Kittel of the Capitals answered back one minute later to tie the game at 1-1 after one period. The second period was scoreless with both goalies making key saves. The Sharks took a penalty with 2:57 left in the third period sending the Capitals to the power play. At the 2:09 mark Thomson jammed home her own shot to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. Kittel picked up an assist on the goal. The Sharks were unable to answer and the Capitals won 2-1.
The girls earned the the 2-1 victory and left Ottawa as the Midget “BB” Provincial Champions after amassing a perfect 6-0 record!
The Capitals had an amazing season and always seemed to play their best hockey when it came to tournaments. They competed in a total of 22 tournament games, which included winning Barrie, lost in the finals of Guelph, winning Sarnia, and Provincial Champs in Ottawa, piling up 19 wins and only 3 losses. The girls played a total of 51 games for the season winning 35 games, losing 9, and 7 ties. They out scored their opposition 134-59 in those games. Of note, Alyssa Inglis, played in all but one of those games in net and piled up 19 shut-outs along the way. Overall the girls had a great season and excellent weekend and are deserving Champions! Congratulations girls.